Glimmer of Light
by Sammyyeah123
Summary: Sequel to Birthday Bat - Bruce has finally accepted his love for Diana. But he is still in denial that anything can come of it. As rifts come between Diana and Bruce, will he act on his love before it's too late, or stay truly professional, forever?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hey guys! This is an introduction to a new story, where I develop and explore Bruce and Diana a lot more, based from the foundations that 'Birthday Bat' layer out. Sorry it's short but it's an introduction, enjoy! (Btw I need help with the title,**

 **should it be 'Glimmer of Light' or 'Glimmer of Light in a World of Darkness' ? Make sure you comment on your preference)**

I love Diana Prince.

It's a thought that's dwelled in my head for a long time. Everything from her looks, to her smell, to just her unplanned elegance with every step she takes. She's become everything I need yet the thing I don't want or can't have. It's not that I can't, it's just that she doesn't _deserve me_ in _her life_ like that.

They say opposites attract. Well that's the basic principles of Charge Interactions – Physics essentially. But it holds some relevance towards me, though I wish it didn't. I don't want to be put in this situation. This sounds like a weird analogy to make but if we were magnets, I'd be south and she'd be north. I'm at the deepest of lows a human could get. My life is consumed by darkness and crime. She is however the highest of highs. The pinnacle of perfection that someone could be. I'd go so far to say that her imperfections and negatives make her more perfect. Weird how things work in the real would.

It was my birthday a few days ago. I was shot, injured and nearly killed. So just another night for me. I don't like celebrating it, why should I be celebrated for my mum giving birth to me? I done nothing and it just wastes time that could be better used serving justice to those in dyer need.

There was a highlight in the night though. One that's circled around in my mind, and for the life of me I just can't get it out. The few moments me and Diana shared in the guest room. The tender moments of madness we shared. I don't think I'll follow up with it. What I said in the bed after being shot was shock and adrenaline speaking, and that moment was a glitch in the system.

Not to mention I have no clear indication as to if she was drunk or not. She was clearly drunk throughout some of the night, saying stupid things I know she probably doesn't mean. But she seemed to have started to sober up later on. Was she attempting to control herself? Maybe to impress me? Maybe she was just sober. It would make sense whatever conclusion it came too. Regardless of if she does or doesn't care for me, she (like most) likes making a good act here and there to receive acceptance and gratitude from others.

* * *

Without warning I hear thuds on the door, destroying my thoughts.

"Sir, you are aware you've been in the shower for over an hour now right?" Alfred informs me. In this moments I begin to feel the water splat on my face and shoulders again. I have to go to a meeting very soon (thanks to my lack of time keeping) and then the Watchtower for a brief check-up.

The Watchtower trip may be more awkward than I can imagine. Regardless of what happened on my birthday, we haven't talked since. Diana's not a one night stand kind of girl, which is why I have a feeling she _was drunk_ during the events.

"Thank you for informing me Alfred, the warm water can take you out of reality sometimes" I reply.

"Ah yes it can. You should be thankful this comes so easily to you. I never had this luxury when I was young" the old man points out.

I turn the shower off and step out. I can hear him breathing behind my en-suite, as well as his shadow dwelling over the bottom of the door.

"I am, hence why I took so long" I say jokingly, attempting to make a joke out of a mistake.

I hear him chuckle as he walks away from my en-suite door. I take this moment to dry myself with the towel on the rack, and place on my boxer briefs. I venture into my room, to see my clothes for the day laid out on my bed already, ready for me.

"Sir you have Mr Fox calling you" Alfred says coming into my room.

"Thank you Alfred." I take the phone and answer it. "Huh… Bruce you know you missed the meeting right?"

Oh shit…

"I assure you it was a genuine mistake, I didn't mean to I just lost track of time, I have my suit righ-" I attempt to redeem myself before Lucius Fox cuts in. "It's fine Bruce, you know I had you covered. I would just like you to inform me if you can't or won't make it."

"Lucius I had no intentions of missing this meeting, you know I wanted to get back up off my feet as soon as possible."

"I know. The next meeting we have is possibly in a few days so I'll update you with the detail nearer to the event. Lucius out."

I throw my phone on my bed and release a sigh with my head in my palm. I've lost total rhythm recently and it's tough to get it back. But it's 1:45pm and I'm meant to get to the Watchtower at 2:30pm.

I feel my heartbeat attack my chest muscles in anticipation of meeting the League. I'm usually stoic towards the meetings but today seems different. I venture out my room and quickly towards the Batcave. I run down the many steps that lead towards the thing many call a myth. I reach the bottom and speed-walk to the Batsuit. Anxious to wear the cowl once more, I place it on with no hesitation and venture to the teleportation pad. I look at the computer to see if any notifications have appeared but to no success.

With a bit of time to spare, I teleport to the tower.

* * *

I'm greeted with many stares from the lesser valued members on the tower. With 25 odd minutes to spare, I walk hastily to my dorm. I enter my 15 digit number to open my door, walking to my computer seat and relaxing.

With the amount that's mentally occurred to me in the last few days, I'm finding it harder to maintain my Bat character, as well as to maintain any prolonged act or expression. I'm torn between what to do, as if I'm the rope in a tug-of-war competition.

"Hey Bats can I come in?" I hear a feminine voice outside my door ask. I instantly leech on to who it was – her.

"Come in Diana" I reply, clicking a switch by my computer to open the door. She comes in with her standard attire on, yet looking great with little effort. Her eyes greet mine as she comes closer, smiling whilst having a bounce in her walk. Luckily my white lenses cover my eyes.

"What can I do for you?" I ask her, attempting to make, yet sum up this conversation quickly.

"You feeling better now Bruce?" She asks, her eyes shining into my direction deeply. She's a few feet (maybe metres) away from me, looking down as I'm sitting. I turn my chair so that I'm now completely facing her.

"Of course I am. I wouldn't be here if I wouldn't" I say stoically. I know I can say it how I want and she won't get impacted by it at all, for better or worse.

"Yeah you would. By Hera you'd come even if you went six rounds in a ring with Doomsday" she remarks sarcastically, bursting into laughter as if she's made the joke of the century.

I just sit there stoically as per and watch her lean on the wall near crying, just letting her do her own thing and to calm down herself. On the exterior I look dead but inside I'm kind of loving it. She's so elegant and perfect, and this just furthers my point.

She quickly attempts to recuperate, realising that she's not the comedian she once thought she was. She straightens herself up, sniffing and swiping her hair behind her shoulders with her hands.

"Anyway I just wanted to see if you're ok. Glad to see your back at work Bruce" she says smiling like a child with ice cream. She turns around and walks out the dorm.

Well that wasn't nearly as awkward as I'd first imagined. But that leads me to believe she doesn't remember…


	2. Chapter 2

I leave my dorm and walk towards the tedious conference that I wish wouldn't happen. I feel it's just a stroke on Kal's ego, furthering to him how he's the most 'Godly' out of us all and in control. I doubt very much this Watchtower could even function without myself running the majority of it.

I enter the room, last, and late as per usual. I am greeted with looks and stares among my colleagues, some with fear and some with anger.

"Why is he allowed to arrive late but I'm not?!" Flash retorts to Kal, trying to defend himself. Clearly he too has a lack of time management.

"Because I paid for _everything_ in this tower, including the tower itself." I reply. Simple, concise and to the point. Wally immediately backs down, knowing he'd be fighting a lost battle.

"This is true, but the world doesn't revolve around you Batman." Clark states. He seems to be in a bit of a troubled mood. A slight ticking with his left index finger, as well as slight bags under his eyes indicates his mind has been on something. Clark isn't intelligent enough to be warranted the idea that it's a thought worthy of Einstein. So evidently it's Lois. Furthermore, he has a slight shake in his left foot, indicating panic. His hair too hasn't been as finely groomed as before. His hands have been in his hair. I believe Lois is annoyed at Clark about his commitment to the League and not her.

"Maybe you should think about the world less Clark, otherwise Lois may never talk to you again." I state firmly. Everyone's eyes opened wide with shock. I move my arm (which was currently under my cape) towards my belt in the event the Boy Scout has had enough of me.

Instead, he swallows hard, retreating from me as well. His face seems distant from the rest of him. "I … well … erm… Yes. I'm sure it'll be sorted out soon, so please can you sit down so this can begin?" He asks.

Without responding to him, I walk to my seat, which happens to be next to Diana. I've used this deduction and idea that she doesn't know, to refrain from any attempt towards her. Thoughts of failure consume my confident self.

"Well, now that everyone's here, let's begin" Clark states.

It's been 45 minutes now, and I would rather have my back broken again. It truly destroys me every time I'm here. How can something like this possibly be this boring consistently?

I have resorted to grasping my leg firmly, as I may of broke the arm chair I originally used as a stress object. This did catch the attention of the Amazon besides me, but she waved it off as 'usual behaviour of me'…

With talking in the background which I'm not listening too, I do wonder why I don't sleep during these talks. A) I don't get much sleep. B) I have lenses protecting my eyes. C) I don't snore. It seems logical to drift off from time to time.

"So what about you Batman? You're the tie breaker" Clark asks with a slight smile. I come out my thoughts as I've been presented with multiple problems. Clark seems to think he can make me look stupid, as well as find this revenge. I instantly call for J'onn for help.

' _What is he on about?' I ask._

' _A vote to do a photo shoot of us for a calendar in the name of charity' J'onn replies._

Oh my lord I wish my head was moving towards the desk as a really fast velocity, causing instant death.

"I cannot believe you make me come here, to vote about a calendar" I state firmly towards Clark.

"Well charity is a valid reason in almost any case" he replies.

"And you think the man who places fear among maybe millions of people, should do a photo shoot? How stupid truly are you Kal?" I ask back. I can feel the venom dropping off my tongue as I speak.

Most around me reposition themselves in the chair, mostly from shock, placing their hands over their mouths or eyebrows.

"I was smart enough to work out your identity, _Bruce"_

"You didn't study for X-ray vision, you was gifted it. If you didn't have it, you would be as clueless about my identity as we are about why you wore underpants over your attire for years." I reply. I believe that checkmate.

"You've made plenty of mistakes too." He states. I can see anger boiling in him.

"Well when you have to do _everything_ in this group as most people in this League don't use there brains, mistakes are inevitable."

Well insulting the League wasn't the intention, but I have everyone's attention now.

"Excuse me?" I hear Diana say, staring as the left side of my face. I notice her right hand starting to use the arm on the chair as a stress object.

I sit silently, focusing on Kal and what he has to say in response, ignoring 'background chat'.

That may have been a mistake.

"Did you not hear me the first time Bruce?" Diana said, with more steam coming out of her than Gotham at night time.

I'm now forced to respond to her.

"I don't care whether you're from Oxford, a shack, or Themyscira. Location nor race doesn't determine intelligence. For you to believe you're smart because you're Amazonian, literally speaks to me in volumes has little intelligence you possess."

The whole room goes quiet. I swear I could literally here the silence, and it was most definitely deafening.

"You are an idiot to disrespect me like that mortal" she spits, like I'm some normal person.

"Respect is earned, Woman. You don't deserve it straight away because you're in a cult discriminating men."

Next thing I know, I've been hurled through the door. I now rest on the floor in the hallway, instead of a chair in the conference chair. At least the chair was by my side.

I get up quickly and leave. In a tight spot, I stand no chance against her. It would be suicide.

They all rush towards the hallway, attempting to see me on the ground. I've annoyed them all and as a result they don't worry for me right now. But to there displeasure, I've already left and have hid somewhere in the tower. Right now I'm being headhunter by this woman, and I need time to prepare myself. She'd be able to get to the teleporter before I and I'd be a fool to thing otherwise.

"Diana calm down!" Clark shouts, flying towards Diana in an attempt to stop her.

"Out of my way Kal, before I break you as well!" She shouts back in rage. Clearly hurt by comments previous made.

"Diana you might want to listen to Clark and try to cal.." j'onn tries to reason before having a chair hurled towards him. He lets it just go through him.

"You know you'll be wasting your time hunting him Diana" Clark tries to reason, not realising the comment made.

"Now YOU disrespect my skills too?!" Diana states in frustration. Her anger seems to now be towards Clark instead of Bruce.

"No I… I just meant he could be anywhere on earth. That's all." Clark said quietly. Diana in response calmed down, knowing she knew Bruce well.

"He's not on Earth – he is still here." She simply states.

"Diana can a simple conversation not end this? Destruction isn't necessarily needed." J'onn tries to reason once more.

"You think BRUCE will do that? Haha how foolish you are!" She yells towards J'onn. She then turns towards Clark, barging past him with a huff of pure rage.

The League attempt to follow, but J'onn stops them. "This isn't our fight. Let these two sort it out. Bruce is struggling with personal issues and accidentally insulted us all. Diana is struggling with, erm well Bruce's party. They need to talk."

"What are you on about Manhunter?" Wally asked with excitement - He loved Gossip.

"Nothing you think or want it to be Wally" he replied.

The Martian had lied...


	3. Chapter 3

Twenty minutes had passed since the incident regarding Diana. The throw had impacted me more than I first thought. My shoulder has been dislocated, and now that the adrenaline has declined, I can feel it slowly pulsating more and more. I had hid into a secret department I had made myself in the tower, in the event that I was to be attacked or hunted by a meta and needed to evacuate. Paranoia has its ups.

The hatch I was in was very secure, and was designed to stop metas from finding me. First off, the entire floor in the room was covered with Lead. Whilst this seems suspicious as the other rooms don't have it, it is my quarters floor – with previous experiences with Clark and his X-Ray, it has become plausible from them. Secondly, I have made the entire perimeter of the secret pathway soundproof. Whilst I fear a meta can bypass this, it should still require extreme focus.

This pathway was fairly long, and did indeed have a private teleporter at the end waiting for me. This was one of the answers as to why the League found is astonishing that I could just vanish like I do.

I had to slowly make my way to my quarters, because if I ran there immediately, Diana would of ripped my head off by now. I was noticed by J'onn, but he let me pass with no issues. At one point I was metres from The Amazonian, but she was distracted by a Clark coming towards her in an attempt to reason once more.

As I set the location I needed to go to, I lookup to my right to see the monitor which showed live footage of Gotham News and the hidden camera(s) in my quarters. This was so if anyone was in my quarters, I could remain here safely without being found. Soundproof walls come with consequences, so this is the substitute needed. The monitor showed a distressed Woman enter it and shout in frustration with her hands in her hair. Scary, yet still sexy to an extent. If I didn't know the context as to why she was shouting, I would find it better.

' _Sometimes I hate this guy. Just talk to me for once, please!'_ she says to herself under her breath. I simply flinch in response before I realise where she's walking to. I forgot to turn my computer off, giving her free access to (almost) everything on it.

I quickly rush towards the hatch as she begins to settle down onto my computer chair. With no sound made, I life the hatch and stand up tall in my quarters, behind the woman that wants to break me. I stand still, with no noise made, watching over where she decides to search. She glides the mouse to files I'd rather no one see, so I stop her.

"I would prefer you not to click that Princess." I say to her, causing her to flinch massively and turns in the chair to face me.

"You didn't enter by the door. Where was you hiding?" She asks. I simply ignore her question and ask my own.

"What do you plan to find on my computer Princess?" I ask her. She stares at me intently.

"000000110 0xA 733(10^-12)" she read outs to me. I instantly bite my jaw, knowing what path this will lead down. "What does this mean Bruce?" She asks.

"You don't need to know." I simply reply.

"Tell me or I'll make you cry for mercy. You have no where to run now." She stares, slightly tending her arms and quads, getting ready to leave the chair if need be.

Weighing up my options, I decide I have to tell her. "It… it's the date of my parents death." I answer. I see the tint in her eyes change from anger to sympathy towards me.

"This isn't how people write down dates _Bruce_." She says with a hint of curiosity in her voice. I notice her emphasising my name, trying to normalise me and my life.

"I run around at night beating up thugs in a bat costume, I'm hardly most people" I reply confidently. The mantle of Batman is one I have pride in, regardless of how weird it can sound at times.

She stands up but hesitates to close the distance a bit. Several metres separate us. "You know sometimes you h.." she starts to say as I interrupt her.

"hate 'this' guy. You just wish I spoke to you for once, you even said please." I finish for her. She stares at me gobsmacked for a few seconds before she shakes her head and attempts to scan the area. She knows I wasn't in the room when she said it as she entered the room , which was empty. She just twitches the corner of her lip and scratches her head in pure confusion. I can't help but raise the corner of my lip in happiness. Seeing others confused by myself (especially her) brings me joy.

"Well … yes. Evidently there's a camera somewhere, I wouldn't put it past your paranoia." Biting back at me for what I just done.

No comments are made between us for a long period of time. We simply stare at each other. Our stubbornnesses force neither of us to stand down. She starts becoming flustered in the cheeks, but she fights it and stares as if she was ready for a fight. Finally I'm forced to break it, as I felt it's time to ask.

"Do you..remember what happened during my birthday event?" I ask, clearing my throats after the second word. I feel this weird rush towards my head but I push it aside, more important things are at hand.

"I… erm what are you on about Bruce?" She asks with a slight knot caught in her throat.

"It's nothing, don't worry." I state stoically as possible. The hairs on my back went up from how menacing it sounded, and It did cause tension in Diana as well. "Now to the problem at hand. I'm sorry for my comments made earlier. My anger and frustration was not meant to be taken out upon the League. These conferences just…irritate me to no end."

"It's…fine. You deserve the throw though. And don't you dare disrespect me or my sister again." She says firmly to me. I know she means it, but I can't help but say something I shouldn't.

"Or what, princess?" I say with a smile upon my face. I immediately wish I could retract the statement. My control just goes when I'm around her, and now that she doesn't remember the event on the night of my birthday, I can stop being around her.

"Ahahaha. You always surprise me Bruce, but my point still stands." She says with an equal smile on the surface, but venom underneath.

"I know. Now may you leave please? I have work to attend to." I ask her. She walks up to me and places a hand on my shoulder whilst looking at me in the eyes.

"Oh Bruce. You're injured and nothing is happening in Gotham. Let J'onn attend your injury." She demands concerned about my health.

"Hardly worth attending TOO.." I try to say, before she puts pressure on my shoulder.

"Really?" She asks back with a patronising tone. "I barely pushed and you shouted like a child."

"Not all of us are indestructible Princess."

"All the more reason to keep yourself healed."

Comments pass quickly, but one thing remains constant. Eye contact. She seems desperate to have my lenses removed, allowing her to see me, not the myth that sends chills through the toughest of foes. She starts to bring up her right arm from her side, only to control herself and stop. She backs away from me.

"see you later, Bruce" she says, walking off, waving at me.

"Goodbye Princess." I reply watching her leave. She gets stuck at the door, realising it's closed. "Please refrain from breaking my door down." I say, now sitting down at my desk once more.

"Be a gentleman Bruce and open the door for me?" She asks of me.

"I'm alright. Instead you can stay here for a while and suffer" I remark sarcastically, looking straight at my screen not even attempting to look at her.

"Pffft. Men. They take any chance they can to have a women in their room don't they?" She asks sarcastically, but truthfully, walking back over.

"As Batman, I cannot give you an answer with absolute certainty." I say back to her. I'm fully aware that I'm not in character right now, but I can't help it. It's nice talking to her, and she brings happiness to me. "Diana: You may want to use this time wisely. It isn't often someone's locked in a room with Batman."

"If you insist. What did you mean earlier on about your Birthday?"

"Well … I … er. It's erm… complicated. _Probably_ just me overthinking something minor, being paranoid twenty four seven has these effects on you Princess. The pin to the door is '000000110 0xA 733' – don't bother remembering it, by the time you try, it'll be changed."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me Bruce."

"Well be thankful you can last longer than humans without food or drink."

"Funny. So tell me, now."

"I… can't. Besides, I'm sure being shot altered the thoughts of what happened."

Diana slowly walks towards me, and I here the tatting sound of her heels as she walks. She places her hands on the top back part of my chair and turns me around so I'm now forced to face her. She moves her hands, pushing my shoulders into the chair, causing pain. Whether she knew this or not I don't know.

"Tell me. Or I shall throw you and this chair of yours through the door 20 metres behind me with the might of the Gods."

Not again…

"We erm… made out…" I swallow hard whilst saying this. My suit is suddenly becoming irritable from friction with sweat that has occurred almost instantly.

Diana's eyes widen with her eyebrows pushing down. Her mouth opens slightly in shock and she pushes my shoulders with slightly more force, causing a sweep of pain to rinse my body. I hid it best I can, and she doesn't realise as she's so out of it.

Diana drops her head lightly, and I see the hair fall, from the shoulders to freely hanging. She whispers under her breath 'Hera help me in my time of need'. She bends her fingers so that they're now in between my rear deltoid and the back of the chair.

"Is that …it?" She faintly asks me.

"…yes." I respond to her.

I feel so bad deceiving her like this. I never liked doing this, but I did it without worry. With her it's another problem. I feel morally similar to what I would if I hit a baby with a roundhouse kick. She can't know though, she doesn't deserve it. She doesn't deserve…me.

She tries resisting the lie though. "Bruce, don't lie to me please. Did _anything_ happen after?" She asks faintly but more aggressively. She is desperate to know.

"Well…I got shot. That's it." I reply. But she's still not sold.

"You was shot some time after your party though. Bruce I beg you be honest to me here."

Oh god this is literally hurting me to do this to her. She tightens her hold on my shoulders even more. I barely hold in my pain as I have a desperate amazon in front of me. Either way I take this, she'll get hurt. I lie to her to protect her and she gets hurt. I tell her the truth and possibly lead her down that path and it hurts her as well, probably more. And that's the deciding factor here. Minimal damage rather than damage evasion.

"…No." I state. I don't know whether it was a no to being honest or a no to nothing happening, but it was simply a no.

"You've left me no choice here Bruce. I'm sorry, my friend" she says before one arm leaves my shoulder and falls to her hip.

The Lasso of Truth.

I'm now in immediate trouble. She still has hold of my hurt shoulder, so that arm is essentially out of the equation. I know whilst she is doing this she wouldn't expect such an upfront move, so this'll work.

Without anymore hesitation I push her with my free arm and swipe her legs with one of mine. I immediately drop 2 smoke pellets, one by her and one by the door. I run towards the hidden hatch as she tries to see me through the smoke, but to no success. Within a matter of seconds, I'm out the room. The smoke soon disappears and an angry Amazon stands there with Lasso in Hand. She stomps her foot in frustration, putting a hole in the floor.

Damn it.

She noticed the hollowness and realises quickly what it is: a pathway. She punches through the floor again till she has enough space to fit through. She lands and scans the area, to see me in the teleporter. She quickly readied her Lasso's and hurled it at me. I dissipate when the Lasso is centimetre's from my neck. She lunges towards the teleporter, reading where it has sent me.

"Location: Batcave."

Without any hesitation she runs back and flies through the hole. Entering the 15 digit code on Batman's door, and leaving the Watchtower herself. She knew if she attempted via telepads, it wouldn't work.

' _You're not getting away this time Bruce'_ she inwardly thinks to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

I am reformed to find myself in the legendary cave. It's surrounded with darkness, other than the man-made light such as the computer, or from the light via moon that comes down through a minor escape in the roof of the cave. The cave itself is several hundred feet long with multiple pathways and creations to aid my venture in rinse Gotham of its evil.

I am greeted by my faithful Butler, with a tray of food in his hand. "Good afternoon Sir, I trust your meting was p…" he stops as he draws his eyes towards my injured shoulder. "…surprising? Master Bruce your injury(s) need attending to." Alfred immediately puts the tray down, before I walk past him knowing he'd follow.

"Sir you must sort.."

"No I can't right now, I need to hide. Alfred I'll explain later, although this injury probably party explains it. We will be greeted by a forceful Amazon soon, and I beg that you state clearly to her that you haven't seen me since I left for the conference. She knows I've headed here, so denying me here is futile."

"Erm right Sir." Alfred replies as we walk up the stairs and past the Grandfather Clock, we stop by the stairs towards the upper floor. "What if she forces her way in?" He asks.

"Well you can't do anything. Just make it clear you haven't seen me. She's stubborn and won't be sold on anything else. I'm going to hide now, call for me once she's gone and only once she's gone. Do you understand?" I ask Alfred, giving instructions to him.

"Huuhhhhh, you are such an arse sometimes Wayne. But of course I shall help you, your health is a priority, and I have reason to believe it is in danger."

"Thank you Alfred. I shall see you soon." And with that, I disappear quickly into the shadows to try and find the perfect spot to hide from her. Luckily my Mansion is huge, so even without looking for secret areas, she'd be searching for a while.

Not even five minutes had passed till loud thuds came from the outside of the front door. Alfred was quick to come to the door to come face to face with the much anticipated Amazon.

"Good evening Princess, how may I assist you this evening?" Alfred asks, bring the gentleman he was.

"Hello Alfred. Where is Bruce?" She simply asks. Usually she has a high spirit for Alfred, knowing the gentleman he is and what he has to put up with constantly.

"My dear, I haven't seen not heard of Bruce since he left to go to the meeting with the rest of the League. Why? Should I be worried?" Alfred replied, attempting to play the Amazon with a lie. It had not worked.

"Oh…boys, they always have each others back don't they? If you shan't tell me where he is, I shall search myself. Now if you wouldn't mind Alfred, move yourself" Diana demanded, moving through the doorframe.

"I…well be my guest. A friend of Bruce is a friend of mine" Alfred says, now closing the door for Diana as she walks into the main hallway. Alfred follows her and becomes shoulder and shoulder to her.

The hallway was where most things are connected to it. There were two stairways, the kitchen, a living room, library doors and more.

"I don't think he considers me a friend, Alfred" Diana said to the Butler, with slight disappointment/disapproval within her.

"Believe me ma'am, you are a treasured friend. He just doesn't know when he has something. He is a man who has pushed everyone away, so don't feel hurt if he tries to do the same to you." Alfred says, attempting the raise Diana's morale.

"Perhaps you can help me with what I'm trying to find out. On the night of Bruce's party, something happened between me and him according to him. But he was very vague and is hiding something. Can you help fill in the blank?" Diana asks optimistically.

"Well it's not my place to say now, is it? You can use the Lasso on me if you must, but you'll never be satisfied with the answer until it comes out of his mouth." Alfred replies, turning to his left to now look at her.

"I know… I just wish he wouldn't run like this." Diana stares, before Alfred quickly replies: "we all do. His emotions are locked up by these demons and chains. I believe you do get to him though, which scares him. Hence why he runs." Alfred afterwards looks downs and breathes heavily, knowing he's about to get an earful for what he's about to do – "Bruce is upstairs hiding in one of the rooms. Please don't hurt him, you've done enough physical damage as it is." He says softly towards her.

"Thank you Alfred. I don't take offence to you lying to me, you are a great man with good intentions. I have the upper most respect for you and what you have to put up with" she says, looking around as she finishes the sentence. Before Alfred gets a chance to reply, Diana has flown up the stairs and starts to look around.

I can't believe I'm having to hide in my own house. I'm a fully grown man who knows over 120 different types of Martial Arts and has an IQ surpassing Einstein's.

I couldn't find anywhere reasonable to hide, and this was a bother. So I went for an extremely unorthodox method – I 'went to sleep' in my bed.

This shouldn't would on a normal basis, but I'm under the impression that she may be easy on me with this. Because, if I'm honest, I had nowhere to hide. And I'd rather not walk up to her face to face.

Shortly after she ventures the stairs, she enters my room to see me there, sleeping. At first she was took back by this, but saw through it fairly quickly. "I didn't know you liked to sleep on an injured shoulder Bruce" she said mocking me. I held my ground though, and acted as though I was asleep.

She walks slightly closer to me, looking around to see clothes scattered on the floor. If she knew Bruce never liked to rest, she'd find it plausible.

"All I ask is the truth of you Bruce. I believe I have a right to know." She whispers. I use this time now to act as though I've had a nightmare, seeming as she's whispered into my ears she could assume she woke me up.

I rush my head up and forward with wide eyes and a slight sweat, whilst breathing heavily. I swallow hard and then turn my head slightly to see her standing there with her hips on her waist. "What are you doing here?" I ask her.

Why did I try this…

"I came to talk to you Bruce. Now stop acting like Sleeping Beauty and tell me." She said, patience on her was wearing thin.

It's checkmate. I can't do anything any more except tell the truth, whether she should hear it or not is no longer up to me.

"Fine! You want to know what happened?! You and I almost made love, ok! I've been holding this from you so you didn't get hurt. I figured not knowing was less painful!" I say out of pure frustration. I have actual sweat now dripping as my hair starts to get slightly wetter.

She stands there and laughs to herself. I just told her something which I found hard to say and she's blown it off like it's nothing. Hell no.

"Well Bruce I.."

"No Diana I don't want to hear it. I tried being nice by pushing you away gently but it clearly hasn't worked. Get out if my house, now! And please refrain from talking to me again unless it's League related!"

She turns silent. I see pain shoot through her eyes with the comment just made. I've never seen this from her, it's like a mixture of sadness and loneliness that fills her eyes. Her eyes start subtly twitching as she gets upset with what I've just said.

"How can you be so damn **cold**?" She asks me, her bottom lip almost going as she tries to hold back obvious pain.

"Because I have to do what is necessary. You can't win a war without sacrifice, and I'm the one who has to make them so we can win. And before you ask, no I'm not happy like this. I've never been happy like this. But that doesn't mean I'm not satisfied with being moderate. I don't want to do these cold things Diana, but I have no choice but to. I should expect you to at least respect that." I explain to her, obviously she is confused.

"This doesn't mean you have to throw out Love Bruce!" She shouts, her tears holding back no more.

"This isn't Love! This is just a one night thing where we both have no responsibilities for our actions. It's almost stupid to suggest that an Amazon has fallen for a rich kid with a _lot_ of issues."

"You are so pessimistic about everything Bruce."

"Whatever. Why go for the broken man when you could have Clark? I'm sure big old Supes is much better than I. He makes jokes, says nice things, isn't arrogant."

"Stop comparing yourself to Clark"

"Why? Does that bother you? Does it annoy you when someone's applying logic towards you? Who wants bloody Humpty Dumpty after he's fallen off the godamn wall..." I say with a huff of rage. Without further conversation, I grabs the bed sheet, raise it to my chin and to around on my side so that I'm now facing the opposite direction to Diana. I hear sniffs from her behind me, but the truth needed to be said.

"I do…" she simply states.

The room turns silent, and I feel the room being filled with thickness and fat. It's harder to breath in as a result. I turn around to see a broken Amazon standing there. The outcome I feared most.

"This is what I mean" I reply quietly and gently "I tried to hide it because I break people. My demons consume me and others, look at you right now. You're already hurting and that's the last thing I wanted. Diana please, for your safety, please…just leave." I ask of her. She looks up with red eyes, then to the door, then back at me,

"Do you care Bruce?" She asks me. I knew this was coming, but up until this point I didn't think how hard it would be to answer,

"It doesn't matter what I think, I can't have you anyway, even if I wanted too."

"You're wrong"

"I wish I was Diana. I do."

All of a sudden she moves closer to me till we are mere inches from each other, she angles herself down and raise my chin with her hand and locks her soft lips with mine. At first I try to resist and push, but she fights back till I can't anymore and give in. Believe me I tried, but even I can only disregard my feelings so much.

After and intense kiss, she releases with her eyes closed and a small smile on her face. She places her forehead on my and locks eyes with me. "We can fight these demons, together Bruce." She whispers and she strokes my cheek and jaw with her palm. I finally accept what's happening and return a kiss of my own. Except this time it was filled with passion and fire, rather than curiosity and strangeness. She grabs the back of my hair on my head and scrunches slightly as she pulls me towards her and I reciprocate the action.

For a second I feel relieve, like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Unfortunately it doesn't last long before my instinctual defences kick in. I pull away from the kiss, although it was initially fought against by Diana. She opens her eyes with disappointment, knowing what's happening.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be Diana…please" I ask of her faintly. This is tough to do, but it has to be done for her sake.

She doesn't reply to me though. She instead sits down at the end of the bed. She places her hands in her lap and places her chin downwards, looking at her hands. She has a mixture of annoyance and sadness in her face. She says some things under her breath, which I can't pick up on, but sounds like she's praying to her Gods.

A few seconds later she stands back up, and walks towards the door. It's like I'm watching my happiness just leave, and it hurts. A lot. I don't have a choice though, I can't let her become broken as well. She'll inspire the world for centuries and centuries, whereas I'll be gone in 60 years, most likely less.

She looks over her shoulder towards me, and sadly says "fine. I get it, I do Bruce. I just wished that your demons would have been beaten, or at the least I could weaken them. Perhaps I was too optimistic, or even stupid. I'll leave you be now. Goodbye, Bruce." And with that, she leaves the room. With a closed door now facing me, I realise what I've just done.

She slowly walks down the stairs, not showing Alfred any recognition as he waits at the bottom of them. Alfred was no fool, and knew what had happened. He was surprised, he thought Diana was as persistent as Bruce himself.

"I see Bruce wouldn't budge Princess. Shame really, I must say". Alfred says and Diana walks off the last step. She stops and turns to Alfred.

"Indeed. He truly feels I'll be more hurt being with him than not. I can't change that, no matter how much I try." Diana says, acting pessimistically, with little of her usual spirited character in her.

"You must push Diana. I know Bruce, and he has almost allowed you in. He's just afraid, and do you truly blame him?"

"Yes. He should know I won't get hurt."

"Physically perhaps not. But there's more than one way to destroy someone. Anyway I suggest you walk back up those stairs and try once more. You only realise what you have once you lose it, and he's now been given a short taster of feeling like he's lost something." Alfred tells Diana, still confident she can change the man he calls his son for the better.

"Alfred my dear friend, I will not lead my life following a man. If it didn't work out, it didn't. Enough said on it. I have to go now, goodbye." Diana says, as she quickly walks towards the front door and leaves.

Without hesitation, Alfred rushes up the stairs, shouting "BRUCE!" Multiple times among the way.

When he got into the room, he found Mister Wayne sitting on the edge of the bed with his eyes and head in his hands.


	5. Chapter 5

"You are a bloody fool Bruce! Do you hear me? A fool!" Alfred says, walking further into the room, shutting the door behind him beforehand.

I don't acknowledge my Butler to his right. I'm not in the mood to 'receive a bollocking' as Alfred once quoted when he was younger. I assume it was a British slang term meaning 'you're about to receive pain, via physically or verbally' or perhaps it was just a jokey way of saying 'told off and punished'.

In any event I don't care what it means. I just need something as a distraction to everything that's happened. Right know I just wanted to slam my head into a wall repeatedly until it all faints away – perhaps literally.

"Do you know what you've just done? Bruce, do you? Boy, you **will** answer me when I speak to you! I have spent decades running your errands, doing things no other would do. I even limited seeing my family to help you! The least you can give me in return, in the respect I bloody well deserve! I thought you better than this!" Alfred ranting, now standing besides Bruce, sitting on the edge of the bed with his head deeply plunged into his palms.

I still don't acknowledge him. I just feel so down, like I'm walking around in a spiral of self destruction. I need to clear my head and beat down some low life scum, like the pathetic excuses of humans they claim to be.

I'm so enraged by my actions, and upset by the consequences that I just can't deal with anything more at the moment. I get up, causing Alfred to temporarily stop his rant, and step briefly back, giving Bruce more space.

I look to Alfred, literally no emotions showing on my face: "I don't **care**. I did what I had to do, to ensure **Gotham becomes better**! That was the goal I set myself, and I will not let a **woman** nor **man** stop me to reach that goal. Do **you** understand **me** Alfred?!"

"You will not back me down this time. If you think that she will be a detriment to you, then I seriously question your Harvard education! Oh and for you comments and the way you're acting, you can stitch yourself back up when you ultimately jump into deaths swing, until you show me respect. I may not be your father, but you are damn well my son!" Alfred said. His options and words all carried and pushed by emotions without any hesitation at all. I see his eyes water up as he talks through it, clearly hurt about me.

"She will make me lazy! The only reason I'm in this League is because they make me constantly feel the need to prove myself. I need that push to ensure I reach my goal! If she is by my side, how will I do so as much? Can you imagine wanting to get out of bed when she's next to you?" I retaliate. I don't want to push his emotions with the father son thing. Whilst I definitely consider him my father, it doesn't resent the fact my other ones gone.

"You know what you need to do?" Alfred asks, almost on fire now with anger. "You need to forget that damn goal of yours! I want you to be happy and life a good life. I don't want to see you dead by the time you're 48 and never enjoy life! Let Gotham run itself for once. You are only one man Bruce. Albeit a determined man, but one man none the less. I will not allow this fallacy you have ruin any more of your life!"

"If you don't like it, go. I'm sick and tired of everything and everyone thinking they know best for me!" In an act of rage, I punch the wardrobe near me. My hand and arm cleanly go through it. I return my arm from the wardrobe and look towards Alfred. "I'm already lost Alfred. Don't you see that? Don't try with me, spent the possibly little time you have left with your family that's not destined to a brutal death." I tell him truthfully. I'm fully aware of the outcome that will occur, but it doesn't deterge me.

"I refuse to let you fall into the abyss Bruce."

And with statement pushed me over my limit. I walk past him, and walk straight for the batcave to suit up. I have no acknowledgements of my surroundings, I just instinctively walk the path I've done so many times.

If I did acknowledge my surroundings, I would of noticed J'onn stating that he would be arriving at the cave for classified purposes (prefer not to say on the comm).

Buy the time I'm equipping my utility belt on, J'onn comes up behind me, saying my name to grab my attention. He surprises me with his visit, but I don't let it show.

"Whatever it is, it can wait. I'm starting patrol, and I don't plan to stop until my body forces rest" I tell him. Clearly indicating I'm in no mood to talk.

"It's Diana, Bruce" j'onn replies, with a concerned voice.

"Call me Bruce again and I will burn you like a piece if Bacon Martian." I tell him. I'm in a vile mood, and anyone who tests me will find out the rough way.

"She's gone missing. Her comm's dead or non-responsive, and I can't find her telepathically" he tells me, obviously worried about her disappearance.

"She is essentially a God, if she can't handle herself then she doesn't deserve to come back to the League in the first place."

" _Batman_ , why are you so irritated right now?" He asks me. I know he's tempted to look into my mind, but even he has slight displeasure in doing so.

"Nothing. Don't persist" I tell him, putting my cowl on "unless you want to be treated like those I'm about to face."

J'onn closes his eyes for a second, and I almost feel him rummaging through my mind. I know what he's doing and I didn't give him permission. I grab a canister with nanotechnology in it, causing enough irritation to ones skin that causes burning, shortly followed by a fire. I take off the safety pin, then through it to his chest. On impact, it spreads over his body, and I see his eyes open with authority.

"BATMAN AHHHHH WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" He yells at me in pain, demanding to know. They quickly cripple his body, reducing him to his hands and knees, looking up at me.

"I didn't give you permission to look into my head. Don't worry, these won't kill you. But you'll be incapacitated until I return. The more you fidget, the more it burns. I'll be back in 5 hours. Don't look in my head again Martian."

And with that, I hope into my Batmobile.

As I turn on the vehicle, my conscious kicks in. I glance over to the J'onn on the floor by me, wincing in pure pain. I can't allow him to continue on. So I jump back out, and stop the nanites from hurting him any longer.

"I'm sorry J'onn." I say to him truthfully. "As you've seen, I'm all over the place. One minute I want to beat everything till it bleeds no more. Next minute I want to just run away, and hide. I don't know what to do" I tell him, hoping he takes and accepts my forgiveness.

"I…I understand Batman. Please never do such a thing again. You're lucky I cancan read minds. So I know you're being sincere when you say you're struggling"

"What did you say happened to Diana?" I ask, my concern for her makes me concerned for myself.

"She's missing. Now I see a pretty valid reason why." He claims. As far as I'm aware, his claims are true.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry."

"You did what you thought was right. And you at least telling her about the event during your Birthday was a brave, yet correct decision. She deserves to know." He informs me.

"J'onn, be honest here. I can't allow myself to have her, can I?" I say with a disappointingly low tone at the end. My realisation that I can't have her has fully immersed itself in me.

"I believe that you have consumed yourself by fear so much, that it actually affects your judgment now. With slight adaption, you and her can and should work."

I sigh out loud in sadness. I feel my heart being the rope in this tug of war between my demons and … Diana.

I admitted to myself that I love her, but I never actually accepted it. I just let it sit there, slowly getting to me. I just let that idea dwindle in my head, and as a result it consumed my thoughts, consumed the way I thought and consumed everything else. But eventually it needed more to consume, and it found my heart, where it now fights for dominance against my demons. I'm so broken right now that perhaps I need to tell someone and let them help me. This time, I'm not proving others I'm a God, but instead proving to myself that I am a

man. Admitting something is one thing, but accepting it is another, and I will only do better in the future if I accept it.

" _Indeed you will Batman. As soon as we find Diana you must tell her, otherwise you'll pull back again, like you're accustomed to. I had a wife, and let me tell you this: It's a lot of effort, with arguments and moments that hurt. But it is all worth it. To see the woman you love smile of genuine happiness because of you, is a feeling that words can't describe. Bruce you have had a hard life, you deserve something. We just need to find her - Any ideas?"_

"I have an idea of where she is" I comment out loud, not liking the fact my personal thoughts were interrupted, regardless of the mans kind intentions. How talking quickens, knowing the longer she's gone the worse it could be.

"Where then Batman?"

"It's a long shot, but the alleyway down by the building where my birthday event was held. That's where she admitted her love for me and I guess vice-Versa. Maybe she holds sentimental value to it. It's a long shot as she was very drunk, so her memory may be the deciding factor here."

Why do you say 'I guess' Bruce?" He asks, twitching an eye slightly.

"Well I didn't feel it was right. I comforted her and said things, but not like she did." I reply.

With little time wasted, I nod towards J'onn, giving him permission to look in my head.

"I see" he says a few moments later. "She should hold great value to it, if she remembers."

"Let's go – Follow me."

And with that, I jump into my batmobile, fire up the engine, and put my foot on the gas towards the place our destination.


	6. Chapter 6

We arrive shortly afterwards at the alleyway. I hop out, telling the Martian in advance to stay and wait. If she happens to be here, I have to talk to her, by myself, alone.

I examine my surroundings, noticing the lack of change, fundamentally speaking (or thinking). It was on the whole, a shit hole, but it was a lot more spread out. Either this is a hot spot for Foxes, or someone with anger issues has come here. I look at the spread of the garbage from the garbage bag, and used the average area of the bags placed as a starting point of its trajectory. Based on the mathematical data I found here, the bag went at a force greater than what the average human can produce. As well as that, it wasn't a throw, but rather a kick instead.

From this I conclude Diana was here. The splatter is still dripping down from the cold, bricky wall, implying she just left.

"She was here but has just left" I say in my Comm towards the Martian. I get up off my knees and walk back to the batmobile.

"Any guess where she may be now?" He asks me as I jump back into the main driver seat.

"No. Can you contact her yourself yet? This is the only hope we have right now."

"Give me a few seconds Batman and I'll see what I can do"

"Ok." I reply to him swiftly. I need to check if she's on the Watchtower, and right now it's Kal's shift. "Batman to Superman" I call. It isn't long before he replies: "Superman to Batman. What's up?" He asks me. "Is Diana on the Watchtower and/or planning to arrive there anytime soon?"

"Bruce I have her location" Martian says behind me. "Never mind Kal, don't inform her of this. Batman Out" and with that, I cut the com before he could reply. "Where is she?" I ask J'ohnn. "Bruce, her coordinates are identical to ours"

Without hesitation, I lunge out of the bat mobile, only to see a Amazonian slam the vehicle into the ground. J'ohn phases out of it unharmed but concerned. She rests on the back on the batmobile, now several feet in the air, whilst the rest is in the ground.

"You're paying for that" I hastily say to her, trying to keep my cool in front of her.

"You'll have to make me Bruce" she replies, pulling out her sword from its hold.

"Don't tempt me Princess" I reply, gripping my utility belt in the off chance this doesn't go so well.

"You're lucky I don't rip your head off for what you've done Bruce"

"Fortune favours the Brave. But fortune prefers intelligence. Luckily, I have both" I say, extending a grapple and a strong form of rope from the belt. If I have any chance of defending myself, I have to eliminate her powers as much as possible – being bounded by a man does the trick.

"Both of you lower you weapons. This street doesn't need to be destroyed by your issues with each other." Martian tries to argue but to no prevail. Diana hurdles off the remains of the batmobile and raises her sword, resulting in it pointing towards me. I extend my arms out, barrel role out of the way and attempt to wrap the rope around her thigh, but I miss.

At seemingly the speed of sound times ten, she shoulder barges me into the alleyway wall, her forearm pushing against my cheek, face to face with I. I grab tasers from my belt and shock her waists, but she doesn't flinch.

My cowl starts to crack under the pressure of her forearm. I grapple to a valid place for it to hook and fling me into the distance, but she catches my foot as I leave and stops me. With little effort, she throws me over her with one arm, crashing my back into the ground. I can feel a slight dent in the ground from the impact.

She hurdles onto me, her knee resting on my throat. I start to lose my breath as she presses down, hard. In a last ditch effort, I attempt to reuse the rope, and hook it around her throat (my hands are behind her head). I tug hard downwards, resulting in her head whiplashing upwards and lifting the knee from my throat. With this short interval, I drop a smoke pellet, and get to my feet. As expected, she's trying to undo the knot in the rope, but can't do it In time. Suddenly, I strike through the smoke, perfectly placing a sidekick into her gut, causing her to fall to a knee. Her powers have been temporarily cancelled out, but she will still be tough. I grapple to a rooftop nearby.

I watch as she rises, and again attempts to quickly remove the rope. I set myself, aim, and fire my grapple, perfectly grabbing the rope, I then pull up so Diana hangs there. I drop to the floor once more.

I walk to her, as she hangs. She's placing her legs onto the walk behind her, so that she doesn't start to suffocate, leaving me to attack. With little defence, I start throwing shorts to her torso like she's a punching bag, and I'm not holding back. A few shots in and she's starting to feel it big time. She lowers her feet, causing slight swing, which she then uses to push me with both legs, taking me to the floor. She then quickly raises her feet to above her head, and uses the edge of her boot to cut through the rope. She falls and lands on her feet. At this point I arise from the floor.

"You don't have to do this princess" I tell her.

"You don't deserve to call me that" she responds. And with that, we move into each other.

She attacks first, hitting the inside of my front leg with an ambitious kick. I parry as much as I could have, but she's still very quick. As the kick take place, I swing with and overhand, brushing her eyebrow and eye. We both step back a tad. The armour I have is more than hers and protects me from her hits a lot better. Her eyebrow start bleeding from the hit.

A second later, and she starts barraging me with kicks, punches and head butts in multiple combos. All blocked well except for a roundhouse , that hit my head, and the head butts (they will hurt her more). The roundhouse staggers me to the wall behind me. She goes for a superman punch, but I move my body, causing her to full on punch the wall behind me, breaking 3 knuckles. She turns around to see a flying kick connect straight to her face(breaking her nose), putting enough force to slam her into the wall behind her and fall, landing on her ass.

She looks up at me, spitting out slight blood that fell from her nose and into her mouth. She faintly speaks "go ahead, do your worse. This is what you wanted…". I move towards her and stand near her feet, peering over her. "I _never_ wanted the hurt you Princess. You gave me no option" I say, trying to reason with her. I see her hands by head side turn into balls. ' _You should have bounded her again'_ comes running into my mind, as I see her lunge from the floor, grabbing me by the neck and launching us just above the roof I was perched on recently. Without hesitation, she throws me downwards, through the roof and into apartment stairway.

I slide down one set of stairs at high velocity, ripping my cape and flipping me when I reach the bottom. I look back up to see her standing at the top. I get back to my feet, only to see her fly at me, kicking my chest through the window, falling onto the arched part of the Batmobile (where she stood), where I roll down it till I'm at the bottom. A part of my chests armour has now come off, as she glides back down to me. She grabs the start of the cape by my neck with both hands, and holds me in the air.

Martian, despite my orders to stay at one side until **I** resolved it, steps in. "That's enough Diana" he says as he rests his hand on her shoulder. The imagery is shattering. Her hair gliding in the air, as she holds the raised and broken Gotham Knight. Blood, coming out his nose at an alarming rate. Whilst his vehicle, destroyed and on fire, rests behind him. "I could kill you right now Bruce…" she tells me. Rewarding herself a glare from J'ohn. I refuse to look at her, my head held high and my eyes looking far behind her. I don't respond to her. "Even when you're near death, you stay stubborn". Finally I reply to her: "you could…could kill me right na….now. But you wo..won't. I don't fear Death. And as long I breath, i… I will stand."

Diana bites her jaw, deciding reluctantly to let me go. I fall to my hands and knees, looking at the ground, letting a pool of blood form from my nose. She looks down at me: "and to think you are the one Aphrodite cursed me with" she says, turning away shortly afterwards. She starts to walk away.

I'm beat quite badly, but I still find the energy to stand. I call her name, and she turns round to face me. "I never wanted to hurt you." I say one more time to her face. She swallows hard and replies: "you can have all the good intentions in the world Bruce. It's the actions that define whether you're right or not." And with that she raises herself, before saying one last statement: "the Gods are watching you now Bruce. Make one wrong decision, and may Hera have mercy on your soul. Act wisely." And with that, she flies away.

I turn to face the Martian, who simply said; "taking this beating was the strongest, bravest and most respectable thing I've ever seen you do".

It's clear that I deserved some punishment for being so mean. I didn't know the punishment would be a cracked rib, a fractured nose and a destroyed Back. But they say ' _an eye for an eye'_ , which leads me to question how much I truly hurt her. I don't reply to Martian, but instead keep quiet, as he'd expect me to.

"If it's any conciliation, you fought well considering the lack of prep you had" he says, making me feel somewhat better about the ass whooping I just took. "It's nearly day time J'ohn, I need to get home." I say, attempting to leave.

"I shall come with you. If thugs saw you like this, they'd truly think Santa existed" he claims. "Yes, I do have Oreos at home." I simply reply, knowing what he wanted to ask. "Good, let us travel quickly".

And with that, I went home for the night. Bruised and beaten – I guess it's just another day at the office.


	7. Chapter 7

I arrive home with J'ohn discreetly. Not an eye was laid upon us. We cut through the Batcaves road bath, which, my batmobile would have driven over. I'm greeted by a far too familiar face with an even more familiar look towards me.

"Do I bother asking what happened?" He asks, first looking at me, before turning his head the the Martian.

"Dia.." – "nothing happened. Alfred phone Luscious, and ask him to remove rubble down the alleyway we were at." I butt into the Martian, stopping him from saying something stupid.

"Would that bit of rubble be the Batmobile sir?" He asks, with an eyebrow raised, not looking impressed.

"Don't worry, they'll be paying for it" I reassure him. Martian snickers after hearing me "you think Diana has ten plus million to give out?" He asks me, albeit it was more of a rhetorical question.

"Then she'll pay for it in other ways" I simply reply. I get off the Martian's shoulder, as I don't need his support any longer. "You can leave now J'ohn… thank you for helping out"

"Come to the Watchtower meeting later on today (given it was the early morning), sitting next to or across her may get her to come to her senses a bit more" Martian states, as he walks towards the teleporter.

"It's plausible, but unlikely. She is as stubborn as I and won't care to changer her opinion unless absolutely necessary. As well as that, she is a warrior through and through. She won't feel empathy for me" I state, raising my posture straight, and moving my arm, holding my torso, to the side.

"It wasn't a one sided fight Bruce. You wasn't really that prepared, and she is a goddess."

I attempt to reply but Alfred beats me to it: "I shall feed master Bruce breakfast, and me and him will discuss it there-" he pauses, and turns to me, before adding more "he may not like what I have to say upon the matter, but he'd be a fool to neglect my input".

"Your input is biased to Diana. You seem to care for her well-being more than mine" I spit, pushing Alfred verbally.

"Martian: now is your time to leave – I must show this boy some manners once more. The Oreos are up stairs and in the kitchen, I'm sure you can find them, then exit yourself." Alfred states, rolling up his cuffs.

"Right. I shall see you soon friend" and with that, the Martian leaves.

I turn back to looking at Alfred, only to see his hand raised, slamming my cheek. The force cause my head to turn and look down at my shoulder. "Sort yourself out Master Wayne! You are acting beyond a fool, and you are going to die if you keep this up!"

I simply look back up at him "by who? You're the one who seems to be dangerous, not me"

"I am trying to protect you. You think I enjoy seeing my _son_ come home, to be carrying more injuries that the night before? I love you Bruce, but Diana is in the right here. The sooner you realise you can't punch or push you way out of everything, the sooner you'll develop as a person"

"I don't care about Diana, or anyone else for that matter. My goal is Gotham, and Gotham **alone.** If I have to be _alone_ to complete this goal, then so be it. I started doing this, knowing fully well how it would go. How cold my life would be. How empty it would feel. But if I have to destroy my life, to save at least one child, from suffering the same fate I did with my parents, then I will without a second thought."

"You say you don't care, but we both know that's a lie. If you truly didn't care, you wouldn't of searched for her when J'ohn mentioned her disappearance. If you didn't care, you would of hit me back just now. You care far greater than all of us, you just seem to think it's a weakness, not a strength."

"Goodnight Alfred." As I turn and leave him. Walking up the many steps to get to my room. I'm done talking with him for now. My injuries are bad, but bare-able with the consumption of additional Painkillers. If it gets too much, I'll patch myself up before the morning.

"Your breakfast Sir. I see your injuries have already been attended too. Also, Luscious has taken care of the Batmobile. Needless to say he's not a happy man." Alfred speaks, opening the door with his back, as he holds a tray, with both hands, full of food.

"Thank you." Is all I say, my body arched forward as I sit on the side of my bed, awaking from inconsistent sleep.

"The Justice League meeting is in approximately fourty-five minutes, I suggest getting ready after consuming my food is a good idea." Alfred places the try beside me, before standing up straight, hands behind his back.

"I agree, thank you again."

"Not a problem Sir. It is what you pay me after all."

"No for everything. I haven't been myself these last few days. I'm not used to this, and it's hard coping with this change."

"It's my fault I never taught you to deal with these feelings. I taught you many things, just not one of the most valuable things. To that I'm sorry, Bruce." With that, he turns away and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

I devour the food beside me, and slurp the drink just as quickly. I hop into the shower, then rush to the cave, putting on my gear. I've done my best to hide the injuries, but a keen eye may noise the slightly wonky nose that just about hides under the cowl.

I enter into the Watchtower. Not a single eye is laid upon me as I storm through the groups of people. _'News travels fast'_ I think to myself. Funny though, they fear me more now. They probably think I'm hostile and desperate to re-assert dominance of some form. The latter is wrong.

"So in the wake of the recent earthquakes, I have elected the League to help hit areas. There are people who need help, and we have bucket loads to offer, in order to help those swing right back" Superman lectures, the other Justice League members sitting in their designated seats, listening.

"That's all good in all, but where's Bats? Why isn't he here today" Flash asks, snickering, whilst looking around. Whilst he's the only one that laughs, Hal, Shayera & Dinah look back, eyes all glaring at him.

"Batman has called in and said he won't be able to attend for a few days, maybe weeks. He has a situation at Gotham which he needs minimal distractions for if he plans to solve it" Superman replied, winging it in Bruce's defence.

"Funny. I don't remember making that call." Everyone hears the Icey voice, and all turn their heads to the door, to see a daunting Batman standing there. Diana turns her head back quickly though, but not quick enough to evade Bruce's keen observations.

"Ah… Batman, you're back already?! Please, have a seat, this meeting has just started" Clark replies, now slightly sweating under his strip of curled hair dangling on his forehead.

I make my way to my seat, all heads and eyes in the room following me, except for one head – Diana's.

"I think it is a good idea to help those who suffered these unfortunate natural events recently. There's no major threats right now, and this time wouldn't be useful otherwise." I reply as I sit down, now completely opposite Diana. The table was circular, in which the distance from me and her was the diameter. The perpendicular bisector of us two was where Superman was aligned. There was a lot of tension right now, more so than usual when I'm around.

"Oh so you heard that then?" Superman asked cautiously.

"Yes." As I coldly turn to face The Flash, who is now seemingly pissing his pants in the chair he sits in.

"I see..anyway, let's continue." Superman states, as he turns around, back to the massive screen.

The talking of Kal became fainter and fainter, relative to me, as I became more and more focused on the woman parallel to me. I can see her chest rising and falling quicker over time. She is looking straight back, but periodically looks away, to either Kal or the background.

"- to come soon. Is everyone ok with this? Batman, are you ok with this?" Clark asks, looking at me. The attention of everyone falls to me, and I have no clue, nor do I care what he said. "I'll decide closer to it. Gotham is crazy and unpredictable." I reply, as vague as possible.

"So is its Defender." Diana commented. People's head turn to hers, before quickly turning back to me. Flash has a slightly open mouth out of shock, blowing in air, saying "oooh" under his breath.

"The bill is 13.6 million dollars. Don't pull a stunt like that again. You caught me unprepared last night, and I still partly broke you. I won't be so unprepared next time, Diana."

The room goes silent. Everyone is looking frantically at one another, confused about what's going to happen. Even Superman is confused about what's happening. Diana just snickers after a short pause: "don't like being beat by a woman Bruce?" She asks sarcastically. I respond as nonchalant as humanly possibly: "who knew Satan had a womb". This causes a snicker from Flash, before Diana shoots him a glare - he's gone within a microsecond (10^-6 seconds).

"Keep talking and you'll being spending the next month eating through a straw" she threatens, her jaw tightens as her body locks up - she's ready for confrontation.

"Ask Alfred, he'll inform you that I don't eat. Your efforts will be useless, like usual."

She stands up, placing her palms on the desk, leaning slightly forward. Her voice is now raised "you want to put your money where that mouth is rich boy?"

"I'll use the money you owe me if that's your fantasy." – most the room laughs. Diana looks around and starts stressing out internally. She flares her nostrils and stands up straight. "The only fantasy I have of you was fulfilled last night." And with that, she too leaves.

The room remains silent for a few seconds. "It was inevitable." I try to assure them. They must of known it was coming.

"She just wants to be your friend. If you wasn't such a bloody arse then-" "-then what Dinah? I wouldn't get surprised attack and have my batmobile flattened in the ground? I wouldn't have my nose, a rib and my skull basically cracked? Enlighten me."

"Obviously, because that's not what friends do."

"I know, hence why I have issues with her. If I didn't eject from the seat, if Martian wasn't there to warn me, I'd be as flat as the roads painting."

"You bring this on yourself"

"I do nothing that warrants immediate death. Am I cold? Yes. Am I a pain? Probably. But I didn't join this team to make friends. I don't put on this cowl to be liked. I do it because I make a difference. So you can dislike me all you like Dinah, you can judge what I do and say until you're too drained to think. But you can never question the progress I've made to rid this world of evil."

"You will die alone if you keep up like this"

"I know."

"Yet you still push others? Bruce, for being a very intelligent guy – you truly are an idiot."

"Has it ever occurred to you that living a life of isolation means I don't feel the need for friends or a partner? My goals is the protect Gotham, that is all. Now enough of this, it's beyond pointless."

Dinah too gets up and starts to walk out: "just open up once, Bruce. If not for any of us, then at least for her."

"She's the last person I'd open up to right now. Along with _any_ of you."

She stops, slowly closes her eyes and breathes in deeply. She tries one more time "your parents would of wanted to se you happy."

I tighten up. How dare she bring them up. I stand up, and just leave, walking past her, colliding shoulders. I don't budge, she, gets sent a metre or two back, into the wall. She doesn't react to it, knowing she went over a boundary.

Diana laid on her bed in her dorm, staring into the oblivion: the ceiling. ' _How has this happened?'_ she kept asking herself. Struggling more and more to understand Bruce. She thought he cared. Never mind that, she **knew** he did, but he wouldn't budge. Diana was at a cross road. She could either attempt to re-fix this shattered relationship with Bruce, or could just forget about it, and him, completely.

"May I come in?" A voice comes from outside the door. Diana was deep enough in thought to not hear the tone of the voice, just what they had said.

"I, er… who is it?" She asked innocently, knowing her thoughts would be gone till later on now.

"…Bruce."

"You know the pin" she replied, resting her head into the pillow.

"Actually I don't. I swore to myself I'd give certain members (more) privacy. You are one of them."

A few seconds pass of silence.

"Can we talk about…everything? I think it's fair we do now."

"I'm not ready to. I feel like stomping your head through the floor."

"Can I ask of you not to do that?"

His voice was different. No longer was it cold, hard and deep. But rather, a soft, weaker voice, with feelings and tone behind it. For a second, he sounded genuine.

Diana reluctantly got up, walked to the door and opened it up. Bruce walked in.

"Where do we start?" Diana asks, both now sitting on the bed.

"I guess where it mainly begun – my Birthday Party."

His voice seemed so different. Diana was slightly afraid. She didn't know how to comprehend it. She never had to link it to feelings and thoughts, because it was always nonchalant.

"Ok. Regardless of what's been said, tell me everything, like I was hearing it all for the first time."

"I will, Diana, I promise."

He looked at her, with his Crystal blue eyes. They had a faint sheet around them, giving off a slight watery, shiny look. She couldn't help but look into them, and she knew Bruce reciprocated the thought.

Bruce didn't say anything for several minutes, he just looked at her. Pondering what to do probably. He was always four steps ahead, in almost everything he done. If this was truly important to him ,he'd be 'prepared'.

Just because he was though, doesn't mean she was.

He unexpectedly took her hand, gently. He raised it to his cheek and slowly rubbed his cheek in her palm, as he closed his eyes. He was enjoying it, and after a second of shock, so was she.

"I'm sorry for everything." He said softly, looking up to her.

"As am I" Diana replied.

Bruce took her hand off his cheek, and instead kissed it. He then placed it on his chest. "Do you feel that?" He asked. Diana nodded. "You're doing that to me." He responded, causing her to skip a beat.

He was cold, yet warm. It started to seem like he was everything and anything he needed to be.

He then gently grabbed her forearm, slowly planting kisses up her forearm, across a faint vain. Diana became flustered, she didn't know what came over him. Lust? Second thought? She was confused, yet enjoyed being lost in him. That was a no go at all times with Diana.

"Diana"

" _Yes_ _Bruce_."

"Diana?"

" _Yes_?"

"Diana?!"

She opened her eyes to see a Dinah in front of her, holding each of Diana's shoulders. It was all a dream. A cruel, wicked dream caused by Aphrodite herself it feels.

"Yes Dinah?"

"I came in to grab one of my items and I saw you sweating, a lot. I thought you was having a nightmare."

"Overall Dinah, I think it was."

She was disappointed. She knew it would never happen. Bruce just wasn't like that, no matter how much she thought otherwise. Bruce just wouldn't show it, he was too far gone down the road of isolation to turn back.

Yet, she still felt a powerful urge to save him.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a month since I last went to the Watchtower – or seen her. And for the most part, I'd not thought her. Things are easier this way. Just me, and me alone. To do my work, that I'd set out to do at a young age. No help other than Alfred, Dick and Barbara.

This cave I'm so used to, seemed to have a different feel to it. It used to give me isolation, and indirectly as a result, satisfaction and relaxation. But no longer does it do this. The bats just tend to say nothing, at all. Usually noise is made, and that brings me out of the complete isolation I find myself in so often.

Perhaps it wasn't the cave, but rather Gotham. It had been quiet recently, so the need for isolation is lessened. I still have been busy though, brushing up on Calculus. Harvard taught me well, but even I forget somethings sometimes.

I lean back in my chair, wearing casual civilian clothes, and look around. I embrace the magnitude of this cave, it's almost daunting. It might be me that's thinking this change has occurred, a placebo of some sorts. The faint sound of the waterfall had gone, even though water doesn't just disappear. It's matter, energy of some sorts – the first thing you get taught about, in terms of energy, is that it can't be destroyed nor created in a closed system, but rather it changes.

Perhaps sleep was needed. I haven't sleep in a day or two. I can feel my eyes being bloodshot, whilst a mild Migraine attacks me from out of nowhere. I can feel myself not at one hundred percent, but am I ever?

Maybe it was a change in life. I used to have complete isolation, then the Justice League came about, and now I haven't been there for a while, I'm reverting to my old lifestyle. Was it really like this though? I'm bored, I have nothing to do. And for the first time in a while, I want to talk to someone. Not about anything in particular – small talk if you will. Just to hear someone's voice that isn't the Bat or my heart. Even Alfred has been avoiding me, and only coming down here or near me when absolutely necessary. Even Alfred has given up with me.

I knew this day would come though. His loyalty is unquestionable, but that's also the downfall. He would never want to see me fall, permanently. And if he thinks I'm starting to reach my end, he'll do whatever it takes to keep me safe. I guess that's true loyalty for you.

For the first time in a while, I have nothing to do, _**and**_ I'm completely alone. At least when I was alone, I had work to distract me, and vice-versa. But I can't return to the League. This is the right decision to make, and in the long run it is worth it. I was a part timer anyway, and it's consumed too much of me now, so a complete step back is the right call.

I return from my thoughts.

I turn off my computer, and go upstairs to get into the shower – I need a rest.

"So Supes, has Batman left forever?" Flash asks, the rest of the League sitting around the conference table, another team meeting had arrived.

"…I don't know. Who knows what's going on with him anymore." Kal replied, exhausted with it all.

"I see. Remind me to send him a postcard saying goodbye. Yano, I'll miss good old bats." Flash answered, putting his opinion out there, although it wasn't asked for.

"I think you're the only one who holds that opinion, Flash" Dinah ventures, trying to make sure Flash knew he was alone in this.

"I don't think I am Canary, I don't think I am." Flash responded, being serious for once.

"He's not gone forever. Whilst he may no longer be in the team, he's still alive and kicking. No matter how much we try to flatten him" Superman pauses, looking at Diana with a smirk, to which he receives a evil glare back "hahaha I'm just joking Diana, take a chill pill. But in all seriousness, when we truly need him, I'm sure he'll be there. As cruel and crude as he may seem, Bruce is the most passionate and caring friend I've ever had. I think his façade of dark and gloomy makes us forget the man he truly his. You all may say Bruce Wayne is the mask, and inside he's truly Batman. But I beg to differ. I believe, wait, no, I **know** he's neither of them, but someone nice, that's held back by chains from his demons and tragedies."

Everyone sitting around the table lower their heads in thought. All trying to look at their encounters with Bruce (and Batman) in a different way. They all begun to realise his coldness was done so the team would focus on work, rather than be distracted by one another.

Diana looked around to see the others, confused to why they're only just realising this. Was it only her that saw this? Was she the only one that attempted to see the man underneath the mask(s)? She knew she couldn't say anything though, without facing hostility from the others. ' _If you knew him so well then why did you try and kill him?'_ was a sentence she could see them saying. She hadn't tried to kill him. She wasn't really sure what she was doing, she was just fed up and relied on her instincts and teachings to guide her – if you have a problem, beat it till it gives in.

"Guys and girls let's not treat him like he's dead. He's gone but not completely, let us instead focus on what's truly important – justice." Diana said, interfering with all their thoughts. They all looked up to her.

"Agreed" said Superman, trying to agree with her and move the conversation on before anyone could make a comment that they shouldn't.

"Did you want him gone Diana?" Hal asked. It wasn't an aggressive question, nor did he mean it in an aggressive manner, but Diana took it that way.

"Of course not! That's the last thing I wanted." She replied. Hal, now realising the situation he was in, decided to defend his Vampiric friend for once.

"It doesn't look like that from where I'm, or anyone else, is looking from." He replies coldly. An unusual tone from Hal.

"I…" was all Diana could muster, before she went silent. She knew this was an uphill battle she couldn't in, unless telling everyone what's truly been happening.

"Enough of this! I'm sure whatever has happened had its reasons. Ones that do not need to be discussed. I don't see Canary and Oliver telling us everything and every argument they have. I don't see Flash telling everyone what happened with him and Hal a while back. So whatever happened, it's **none** of your businesses!" Kal intervened. He was fed up on everyone pressing on Diana for the sake of being noisy. "Now, may we continue this meeting in peace and unity?!"

It's funny, because from Diana's perspective, everyone's gone cold now that Bruce is gone. But when he was here, everyone was happy. It's almost like he sacrificed his own happiness, so that we all had ours. Happiness is a unit, it doesn't a value. Yet it's almost like it's been traded. Like Bruce took on everything bad alone, so that others didn't have to worry, and would stay happy as a result.

Without further thought, she got up. "Diana sit down" Kal demanded, not wanting this fight to continue on. But Diana just started to leave. "Where the hell are you going?" He asked.

"To get Bruce back. Do you not see it? His coldness was a sacrifice he made so that we all could be happy. I mean look at us right now. We're all so hostile and cold to one another now that he's gone. When he was here, we never were like this. We need him here"

"But now you're being selfish! He may finally be happy, and you're going to rid him of it for your own sake?" Oliver replied.

"I know Bruce. His own isolation is not something he wants, but he has it because it's needed for this all to work. Whilst you may all may not, and may never see it, he's a lot worse right now than we all think."

No one replied, they all accepted what she said.

"Just make sure you break his toys again" Kal said, both jokingly and seriously. Diana just ignored the comment and walked off, to go get Bruce back.

Bruce was awoken by Alfred himself, who had a ginormous smile equipped on his face. Bruce knew something was up immediately.

"Alfred, I'm only going to say this once. **Whoever** has arrived here, tell them to leave."

Alfred just laughed. Damn this old man. "Sorry sir but I'm afraid I'm an old man, and they're a demigod. What can I do to stop her?" He asks rhetorically.

I reply honestly, knowing full well he didn't care "an easy way is to bound her by rope, it nullifies her powers completely".

"She can still kick, and bite. I'd rather not get my hands dirty, so I'll tell her to come into your room."

"Alfred stop! Alfred! ALFRED!" I shout, knowing what's coming. Well actually not knowing what's coming, that's the scary part. I know that I don't know what's about to happen, and that worries me, a lot.

Within seconds I see her figure walk around, and then lean, on the door frame. "Good morning Bruce." She says, a bright smile beefing on her face.

"Why are you here?" I ask, rubbing my eyes so I'm more awoke. I'll need to think straight if I don't want this to end badly.

"To talk to you" she says softly, all hostility I know she can have just gone.

"Not now, I'm busy." I reply, knowing full well that's pointless.

"Now is roughly an hour before the usual time you wake up, I asked Alfred. I've been here for the last hour waiting for you. So you have nothing, for the next hour to do." She asked, that damn smile if hers raiding more, knowing I have nothing (valid) to say to that.

"Well then obviously I'm busy resting." I replied, as I bury my head back into my pillow. I hope she goes, and that she stays. This is the sort of effect she has on me and it's annoying. It throws all logic and rationality out the window.

"Then I guess we'll have to talk during your patrol tonight. Oh wait, Gotham's been quiet for a while, so your patrol time has been lessened. Which implies you've had the usual rest you get." She cutely says, as she laughs slightly.

How is this happening? How am I getting schooled by logic and rational thinking? I am almost the very definition of rational thinking, that's all I ever try to achieve.

I continue to attempt to sleep, but she moves closer and sits in the seat in the corner of my room. She's not leaving anytime soon, and it's growing increasingly annoying. An accurate depiction of this is an Exponential growth (n^x).

I open my eyes, to see her just sitting there looking back at me. I look scruffy and probably smell, even though I had a shower last night. My hair is all over the place and I haven't shaved in a few days.

"Wakey wakey Bruce, hehe." She says to me.

Why is she enjoying this so much and why does this feel so weird, yet normal, simultaneously?

"Errrgggg fine." I mutter as I rise, now sitting in my bed. "What's up?" I ask.

"It's the League, weren't not the same without you. We're all gloomy and moody to each other. The team have only just begun to realise the real you, and they're getting more and more aggregated with it."

"So?"

"I know that you're doing worse as well. I-we need you back." She swallows hard mid sentence "I don't know what you do, but you need to do your coldness thing to all of us. To keep us from being distracted. I don't quite get it, and I never will, but we need to be there. I guess they all look to you, and see the coldness, and they don't want to be that, so they try to be happy, and it just works." She continues to explain.

"It's about time some of them had a taste of reality, don't you think? They've been living on cloud 9 for the longest of time." I reply.

"It's not like that Bruce. I- you need to see it yourself to truly get it. Even Flash said he misses you." She states, trying to convince me.

"What about us" I say. Not really sure if it's a question or statement of defence.

"Set aside our differences. Move on from the past, and do what we've always done best – kick ass" she says, a smile now re-approaching her face.

She extends her hand, in an effort to shake on it. Forget and move on. Is it truly this easy? What about the other thing? Does she not care anymore?

I look at her hand, and back up to her. "This isn't a meeting, nor is it a business transaction. We don't need to shake in hands on it Diana." I reply, knowing that her touch will break everything I've tried to rebuild the last few weeks.

"Please Bruce, I insist on it" she begs.

I reluctantly reach out and shake on it, knowing what I thought just now I'd taking effect. I'm now intoxicated by her again. Her scent rushes up my nose, and her touch is almost like a sensory overload. I can't help it, as I close my eyes in an effort to digest it all. Although I don't see it initially, she smiles, knowing what's happening to me. I guess this is what happens when you aren't fully awake, you do silly things.

I'm the first to pull away, knowing this handshake I'd longer than usual, by a considerable amount. I instantly want the feel of her touch again, but I know baby steps are needed.

Baby steps? Am I seriously considering this? How does this happen, I must find out the science behind this. If this is truly 'love' then I must study it's true effects.

I lean back against the headboard, in an effort to lower my heart rate. I know she can probably hear, or at least see, how fast it's pulsating.

"You know there's nothing to be scared of" she says, knowing that she's got to me.

"I've had little human contact in over a month. Even Alfred hasn't come to me, in an effort to prove something. I just need to digest it."

"None at all?" She asks. The corners of her lips now lower, as she starts to feel sorry for me

"Essentially." I reply. I don't want this pity she's going to give me, but I just have to take it – especially if it means my Batmobile doesn't get trampled over again.

"How do you live this life?" She asks me, leaning in her seat, resting her head on her pal, that touches her cheek.

"I made a promise – I plan to keep it." I reply.

' _I will Diana, I promise'_ begins to rush through Diana's mind. Her thoughts now being pushed back to the dream.

There was an awkward silence. I could tell she was in deep thought – I noticed a tendency she has when in deep though which was to bite her lip. Her sapphire blue eyes just stared into my window, as she bit harder and harder. I could not help but sit back and just take it all in. For the first time in a while, I was enjoying himself again.

I start making light coughing noises to regain Diana's attention. The first five didn't work, but she came back to reality after the sixth.

"Oh Bruce I'm so sorry! I was in d-" Diana tried to explain, before Bruce continued on her sentence: "-eep thought and got lost there?"

"How did you kn-" she tried to question again, before I, once again, intervened: "know? You bite your lip and stare into things that shouldn't be under such a gaze."

"You think the sight you have in the window isn't worth a look?"

"I've seen it many times Princess. It has little effect on me now"

' _I just called her princess again'_ I thought to myself. I could tell she too fixated on it, her visible cheek started turning a fade of pinkish. I would be lying if I said I haven't missed that.

"Well you should take a step back and re-immerse yourself in the view. After all, this is your city, and you've worked hard to maintain it." She said, now lifting her head up so it no longer rests on her palm. It's funny, I can't quite tell which cheek looks more flourished. I start laughing out loud as a result.

"What's so funny Wayne?" She asks, curious as to why I'm laughing.

"Its your face ahaha. Err I mean no offence, but you cheek is extremely flourished right now. I just thought it looked kind of funny. Cute, but funny."

She crosses her arms on her chest and looks at me through her eyebrows: "that's not very nice now, is it?" She says. Partly serious, party sarcastic.

"I guess not in hindsight. Sorry about that" I reply, scratching the back of my lower head/neck. I start to feel my face now flourishing all over.

She stands up, walks over to me and places a kiss on my forehead. "Thank you for letting us finally talk. I'll let you get your sleep. Please consider returning to the League. It's, and we're, not ok."

She starts to walk away, but I instinctively lean forward and grab her arm. She looks back at me confused. "I just wanted to say…th…th – thank you, for coming to see me. It means a lot."

The corners of her mouth raise quickly, as she lets go a hold up of air through her nose. She looks down at her feet, then back up, almost sheepishly, saying: "don't thank me, I wanted to do this."

By me staring into her eyes, I forget I'm now fully holding her hand. I look down to see our joined hands, and quickly pull away. She just smiles intensely and walks away. Happiness shining out of her. I can hear Alfred and her walk past each other on the stairs, saying there goodbyes. He quickly returns to my room, knowing that Diana doesn't care about Alfred letting her out.

"Sir I don't know what you've done but she's giving you another chance. I thought you had a fundamental rule to avoid using magic?" He asked, joking about.

"Shut up" I say sarcastically, getting up and nudging him.

Somehow, I have been blessed with a second chance.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: hello everyone. I noticed that my gaps between sections hasn't been coming up on the website. So now, I'll be using "XXXXXXXX" to show it's a new something.**

It had been a day since Diana came to my house and talked to me. Since that talk, I had no interactions with any of the League. I was busy in the Batcave.

Gotham had been quiet once more, so I planned to use this time effectively. I spent the time attempting to invent a capsule that gave the particles in the air energy. The idea was, if I used the capsule, the particles would accelerate more, leaving a certain area, not allowing Mr Freeze's gun blast to travel anywhere. It had no particles in the path to go with. It was meant to be a easy way to counter him, by throwing it near his weapons. However I had to put a halt to this, for multiple reasons. First of all, I wouldn't know the area of effect, meaning many particles in the area would be pushed, making the area we'd fight in a non-breathing space. That's not useful. Whilst I could breath through a air capsule, I don't want to kill them. Secondly, I wouldn't know the duration of the acceleration. As the resultant acceleration would always be zero, it would be hard to determine. I don't want to be carrying round more equipment to see whether particles are in the area, that's just a waste of time.

 **A/N:** **ONLY READ IF YOU'RE QUESTIONING THE ACCELERATION PART.** **the resultant would be zero because Acceleration is a vector. Meaning it's based on change in speed and direction. To understand this, if you're at point A & you go towards point B, you'll have acceleration N. if you go away from Point B, with the same Acceleration, you'll have -N, because the direction is wrong. So as there's accelerations round a sphere based area of effect (world is 3D), the positive Accelerations would cancel out with the Negative accelerations. Sorry if this has hurt your head. This is some Physics, I'd thought to incorporate it in as Bruce is an intellectual, hence the use of Physics. **

So the night of planning lead to nothing. One night isn't enough to invent something anyway, it's too optimistic to think it is.

After realising that my idea wouldn't work, I headed upstairs to get some sleep.

XXXXXXXX

"Sir ,your… - Sir? Sir are you awake?" Alfred howled, standing at the side of my bed, looking down upon me.

"I… I am now. What do you want old man?" I asked, very annoyed he'd woken me up in my sleep. I get little of it, so it's annoying when it's taken from me via external reasoning.

"As kind as ever I see. Your meeting with the League is in the next forty minutes. I'm not a Mathematician, but I can say, based on experience, that you will be late if you don't get up and get ready right now." Alfred shouted, waking me up properly as a result. My eyes opening more and more with each syllable he said.

"Fine. Find some underwear for me for when I get out the shower." I demand, getting up and out my head. I through the cover away from me, knowing Alfred will do my bed later on in the day.

"A shower? Sir with your… habits in the shower, you'll definitely be late" Alfred said, a smirk and raised eyebrow placed on his face.

"Very funny. It's just a quick wash. I smell horrible." I tell him.

"You don't need to tell me twice Sir. It better be quick, or I'll throw you to the ground myself." He warned me.

"Pfft, ok then." I say, closing the en suite door, getting into the shower.

Regardless, I would be late anyway. I despised these meetings, and had no reason to get there on time.

XXXXXXXX

"When will Bats arrive on time?" Dinah asked, looking at her nails. She wasn't impressed with his lateness. A man as organised and anal as him, wouldn't be late, unless he decided to himself.

"It's week thirteen now, give or take." Hal resounded, creating a calendar construct in his palm. Though it wasn't useful, it added to what he was saying.

"He is a part-timer, who runs a Billion Dollar company by day, and runs through city by night. He's only human, and gets minimal sleep consistently. With his OCD to be prepared with everything, you can't expect him to be perfect with this." Clark said, defending his best friend in absence. Even he was questioning in his head what was going on with Bruce. Recently he'd become an even greater mystery.

Dinah just sighed, which was followed by complete silence. They waited patiently for his arrival. After fifteen minutes, it finally came.

"Good morning Batman." Martian said, as Batman turned the corner into the room. He was returned with a grunt from the caped crusader. Batman then walked around, and sat into his chair.

"Let's begin." Superman said, clapping his hands, causing a slight sound wave to escape. He turned away from the table full of heroes, and looked at the board behind him.

"Why did we decide to do this so early in the morning? It's stupid" Batman spat out, not in a good mood. He went to bed at 4:30am and the meeting was at 8:00am. Needless to say Bruce's sleep wasn't the most consistent, but he **could** of had a lie in.

"Here's the Bruce we all know." Flash said, chuckling at his comment.

"You're not the only one irritated by this timing. Suck it up Bruce." Dinah spat back, not in the greatest of moods either.

"Live my life, then come back to me and say that." Bruce responded, looking at her straight in the eyes. The stare he gave her was… scary. Even Dinah was questioning whether she should apologise for her comments, but thought better of it. Instead, she decided to joust with him.

"I'd rather listen to audio of myself screaming for three days straight then live your pathetic life." She responded. Oliver's eyes practically popping out of his mask. Bruce raised the corner of his lips. This was seen by Oliver. He knew what was about to happen to his love, but couldn't do anything really to stop it. Besides, that's what best friends do.

"Or better yet, continue living your life, trying to tell yourself every day that you're more than just 'Green Arrow's girlfriend' – regardless of how the rest of us see you." He replied. Oliver and Dinah knew he was holding back for some reason. They couldn't place their finger(s) on why though.

"Ok that's enough you two. We have topics to discuss, and not a lot of time to do it. So let's crack on with it, together." Clark said. _'Of course he's playing the angel of the group'_ Bruce thought to himself. _'He's just doing his job'_ Martian replied telepathically. Bruce turned lightly at Martian, who had a slight smile, for a brief moment.

Meanwhile, Diana sat back and took it all in. She enjoyed not being involved for once. And preferred being on the good side of Bruce. Even she didn't really know what the current situation was between her and Bruce, but did she ever? It was a 'nothing new there' situation, she found herself in once more.

"Seriously, I'm not in the mood for this today. I have things to do." Bruce said, once more trying to get his way out. He truly found these torturous.

"Like what? Making more gadgets? Don't you already have enough?" Shayera asked this time. Now she had had enough of him.

"It's more about using my brain. Something you've never done before evidently." Was the response she got from him.

Shayera simply breathed in loudly, then placing her mace on the table.

"Huh" was the response he gave. Clearly not impressed by her laughable attempts to intimidate him.

Clark just looked up into the air, or rather at the ceiling. With his hands on his waist, he truly questioned why he bothers sometimes.

"Now Bruce there's no need to be angry at us" Hal intervened. Hal did not like how he was.

"Is it annoy Bruce day today? Or is it just a habit you lot have ingrained into yourselves?" Bruce said, keeping his posture as straight and neutral as possible.

"You're the one who annoys people Bruce. Your attitude to this team in general is disgusting. You have no time for us, and you don't exactly try to find it." Hal said, defending his teammates.

"Ok then. I'll send you a bill of 894 million dollars to cover the majority of expenses of this Watchtower, then when you pay that, you can question my involvement of this group. You've done nothing that Matches that. So I think I'm allowed a bit of rebelliousness, considering I'm the one who always sorts the team out. I'm the one who always pays for any damages caused. I'm the one who sets up anything people want. What do you do again? Oh right you come to team meetings. I see. I guess I'll try to be more involved in the future then…"

The room was silent. Hal's mouth was open with shock. No one said anything, and no one wanted to. Bruce wasn't a morning guy, and this proved it. Silence fell on the room for a few minutes. It was thick, and chocked everyone in the room. Eventually Diana made a move.

"Bruce, you're clearly slightly irritated right now. How about I get you some coffee? I know you're not used to the mornings like this, it's the least I can do." She offered.

"No it's fine Diana. You don't need to run about for me. I'll make it myself. Thank you anyway." And with that, Bruce got up, and left. Presumably to make himself his addiction.

With Bruce gone, everyone looked around at each other. "What's got into him?" Flash asked, worried about the bats.

"I was phoned by Alfred. Bruce spent all night pushing his mind over some new invention, which didn't come through. He wasn't able to get much sleep at all." Diana replied, letting everyone know.

"Thanks for the heads up" Oliver said jokingly. He knew she couldn't if said it while he was here.

Moments later, Bruce returned. A coffee in hand, he sat down and placed it on the table. "I'm sorry about that everyone. Continue Clark."

While people were suspicious, they knew to take it. Bruce rarely apologised.

And with that, the meeting finally begun.

XXXXXXXX

With the meeting finally complete, people started to exit the room and return to their rooms. Bruce was the first to leave. Diana was questioning of him though. For someone so busy, why did he go to his room? She decided the best way to get an answer was to find out herself.

She walked to his room, and entered in his password, and slowly opened the door. She held it herself, so she could control the speed it moved. What she saw, was unexpected. It was a Batman, lying on top of his bed, asleep. _Hera_ was the first thought in Diana's mind. She'd never expected to see Batman asleep. Bruce? Yes. Batman? No.

She moved more into the room. She decided it was best to hover, so footsteps wouldn't occur. When she got to him, she hovered beside him, looking down. She decided to finally touch the ground, but so subtly that he wouldn't of noticed. She sat next to him, looking at him.

This man was a mystery. She thought she'd cracked him, and understood him. But she was wrong. An enigma was an understatement. She couldn't determine their situation. She was confused. She wanted more. Needed more. But her teachings and previous rejections caused hesitation in her. Hesitation wasn't something common in the warrior. But she wasn't a lover, she was a warrior. Hesitation was bound to happen in the areas of unknown.

She saw Batman's arm dangling from the bed, and decided to lift it, to try and add comfort to him. This resulted in him waggling his arm briefly, before ending up landing on her thigh. Her legs were crossed, so his hand hit the top leg (left thigh). Diana slightly pulled away, not being used to that kind of contact. But she quickly recuperated, and let it rest. She was anxious, and flushes of heat waves started running through her body. She knew he didn't know what he was doing. She knew he'd never do something like that on the tower, whilst in his current attire. But it still had an effect on her.

She placed her hand in his, and held it. She wanted him. But she just questioned everything. She wanted him to be comfortable with it. But she knew that would be a lot to ask from him.

She felt a tug from him, and noticed his eyes slowly opening. "Shh shh shh, it's ok Bruce. Go back to sleep, get some rest." She said to him.

He pulled her arm, causing her to raise off her chair. He then grabbed her back with his other arm and threw her over himself onto the other side of his king sized bed. She was not resting in his arms, looking face to face.

He was back asleep, not showing anything to suggest otherwise. Diana on the other hand was going crazy. All the sirens in her head going off, she was going read all over. He had one arm in between her waist and the bed, and the other arm resting over the top of her waist. The second arm had his hand push into her lower back, moving them very closely together.

He had his armour on, yet it felt nice. Soft and tender, like skin. A bit too much. She begun questioning the scenario she was in. Why would he briefly have strength to do that, then fall back into his nap? Why was he napping anyway? She started to panic.

That's when she woke up.

She raised her head slowly. It was tucked in her arms, which rested on the meeting table. The light in the room caused her to squint.

"Afternoon sleepy head" Kal said quietly. "You slept through the meeting. Bruce insisted we do it another time, in case we woke you. But we decided to continue, as you'd be annoyed we changed for you." He said, raising his voice slightly more now that she had time to wake up.

"Eh wh… oh I see… huuuuaaaaahhhhh." Diana said, yawning at the end. She was tired. With the emotional tug of war in her head and heart, she too had restless nights.

"Dream or nightmare?" Clark asked.

Diana took a whole to respond. She looked down at the table, scratching her head, before answering: "I think both?"

The door to the room opened, a bat walking into it. "Clark I said to let her get some re…" before realising Diana had woken up "…Princess." He said nodding to her, a sign of respect and awareness.

Bruce saw Diana. Her eyes slightly sleepy still, with her hair slightly messy and unorganised from the rest. He swore his heart overloaded there and then. He had managed to contain the flow of electricity rushing through his body, but it was noticed by Clark. Who started smiling. Diana however missed it, as her vision wasn't full clear yet

"I Have a story to finish up, I'll see you two around." And with that, he quickly left the room.

Bruce and Diana looked at each other. Both not wanting to look away. Both not wanting to give in. Both now seeing it as a sort of competition. Diana had fully adjusted to waking up, and was now functioning normally again. She eventually tried to defuse it, after fifteen seconds of staring. "I know I look like a mess, there's no need to stare."

"From my view, I only see perfection." He said quietly and quickly. Diana picked up on it and started to blush, but didn't press on it. She notice he started to tighten as soon as he said it. She was slightly at shock, so Bruce spoke again: "sorry. I ergh didn't get much sleep. I haven't woken up myself yet." He said, clearing his throat at the end. The conversation became quick, and more instinctive.

Diana smiled: "I like the more openly honest you."

Bruce bit his jaw: "if you knew some of the things I thought, you'd be saying otherwise."

Diana slightly twitched her head: "prove it."

His jaw clenched more: "now is not the time."

Diana closed her eyes slightly: "or the place? Or is the scenery perfect too?"

Bruce replied quickly: "only a certain part of my view is perfect." Instantly he heavily bit his jaw and tilted his head. He knew where this was going, and he knew it couldn't, not now.

Diana noticed: "it's ok Bruce. I promise you." She said, getting up off her seat, moving towards him with her hand reached out.

Bruce didn't take it, but just looked at it: "Diana If it was up to me-"

' _Diana if it was up to me-'_

That quote. She's heard it before, in that tone. That exact tone. That quote which brought her pain. A lot of pain. It's…it's…what he said to her on **that night**.

Diana closes her eyes, as vivid memories attack her. Memories of it all flooding back into her mind. The teasing. The kissing. The…ripped dress.

Without a second longer, she walks past him and leaves, saying sorry to him and she passes. She abruptly leaves the Watchtower.

After twenty five minutes, sitting at his computer desk in the cave, It finally clicks in his head.

' _She remembers.'_


	10. Chapter 10

It had been a few days since the meeting. The team haven't really needed to meet up. No one talked about it, and only a couple know – Bruce & Diana.

"Sir, need I remind you that you company may need you sometimes? If you're just going to repeatedly pummel punching bags into oblivion, you need an income to do so." Alfred said, walking further into the cave, finding the gym area. With a try in both hands, he was prepared to feed his boss - Or rather, his son.

"Others will take care of it." Was the reply he received. It was partly covered by the thud sounds of Bruce's knuckles and gauntlets hitting the punching bag.

"What is on your mind now Sir? I'm assuming a certain Amazon warrior. My advice, not that it's wanted of course, is to go for it now. You and I have noticed a current lack of activity in Gotham. Now will be as good as ever to try". Alfred said lightly, placing the trays of food and drinks on the padding on the floor, fairly far away from Bruce.

"Alfred, that's not the problem. Last night I found traces of blood from a child, named Simon Dandell. I.. I wasn't quick enough to save him. I found him in a warehouse, battered, beaten and dead from the wounds. It was a realisation of my priorities." Bruce said, shouting it over his combo of jabs, hooks, superman punches and spinning back fists. The bag was quickly starting to fall off its hinge holding it from the ceiling.

"Ah I see. That's a shame. Make sure she's also aware if your decision."

"She is." Bruce said, looking straight at the object he was pummelling.

The statement just made wasn't a lie, but not an entire truth. She wasn't told of his decision, he instead gave a notice saying he wouldn't be available due to prioritises to Gotham right now. Whilst it was vague, it was clear enough for a certain someone to get the idea.

"Maybe I spoke too soon then. Perhaps a new bad guy is out there? You don't tend to fill me in on info Sir, so it's awfully hard to keep track" Alfred responded, an eyebrow raised. He knew Bruce couldn't just tell her. Something else must of happened.

"It was most likely just some random Hitman. Why the child was targeted is unclear, but the attempts to destroy the evidence, was not at a good standard. It has to be a more low-level scum. High-end tend to perform a lot better for a lot longer."

"A random hitman got the best of Batman?" Alfred toyed, not realising it justified the opposing idea he holds. He for should would immediately bite his tongue.

"…funny. This is why I need to regain my priorities. I tried to attempt for an actual life. A life with love, maybe a family and a happy ever after – you and I both know they don't exist in the real world. I was a fool to try. I…" it was at this point Bruce realised Alfred had slipped away, not wanting to hear it. ' _So that's where I get it from'_ he said to himself.

Since she remembered, Bruce had been training harder than usual. He was even further keen to improve his vigilantism. With the realisation and acceptance that he wouldn't have love in his life, he could now fully plunge into to vigilante life. He was already one of the best in the world in hand to hand ability, but he knew that in his world, you don't get three strikes before you're out.

He'd already had enough chances as it was.

XXXXXXXXX

Diana was in her dorm. Not wanting to talk to anyone, she was too involved with repeating the memory of Bruce's birthday, trying to find extra details and clues when possible. She had near everything figured out, and had developed a mind map in her head to neatly organise it.

This change in character obviously caught notice to some. While a couple thought it was 'her time of the month', the females of the team knew better. Generally speaking, they were all aware of each others cycles. They knew it was because she was focused on something, but they didn't know what and didn't think to ask. It was obviously important, so for now they let her be.

Diana convinced herself that he loved her. She also convinced herself she loved him. This was the easy part. The harder part was being able to calculate how to set each other up. She had saw the letter of temporary unavailability from Batman, and knew what it was about. She realised that he changed his priorities, furthering his determination to help Gotham even more. At this point, she couldn't tell if Bruce was the man or the mask.

She understood what it meant to him. That knowledge was why it was such a tough decision. Was chasing him selfish or caring? In one respects it's taking away the thing he cares about most from him, but in the other respect it's giving him happiness and light in his life.

She needed to talk about it, get some input from an outside source. However her Amazonian teachings instinctively make it next to impossible. She was a warrior, and if she couldn't handle stress in the mind, she ultimately couldn't be a warrior anymore.

Bruce truly was an enigma. Who actually was he? What is his purpose other than Gotham? What did he truly want other than to make Gotham a better place? She just couldn't decide if it was Trauma's preventing his attempts or love, or just a general disconnection from the idealistic view of love.

Diana sit on her bed, for many minutes, hours and whenever possible. Her back resting on the backboard, with her knees bent up in the air. Some problems couldn't be solved with a sword and shield, and some problems couldn't be solved quickly. Diana was learning this the hard way.

Suddenly, a rapid fire of knocks ripple from her room door. The sheer speed from hits cause Diana to leave her thoughts and ask who it is. A fast paste response, from none other than the Flash, was the answer she received. "Di Di Di Di Di Di Di Di Di Di let me in please please please" was spoke from the outside of the room. Diana simply closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself from his obnoxious self.

Reluctantly she got up and let him in. To her surprise, the whole League was there. Well, the whole League besides Batman of course. They all stood with nice posture, slight smiles on their faces. "Hey Diana" was spoken from Superman – the leader of it, and probably the organiser of this. Although Batman was the frontier for plans, Kal wasn't half bad neither when it came to it.

"Erm… what exactly is happening right now?" Diana asked, with slight confusion written on her forehead. She had an idea of what was happening, or at least what was going to happen.

"Well… we've all noticed a change in attitude with you recently. And we'd just like you to know that if you need any of us, we're here for you. We appreciate the fact that you take these things head on, by yourself. But…" Clark said, before being interrupted by Canary: "for not being a meta, Bruce is an obstacle very few can get past." Everyone turned their heads and looked at her: "what?" She replied, the lines of what to and what not to say distorted. Clark turned back, to continue his speech: "...anyway. If you do need others, do not let your pride barricade you from talking to us. We're not a team, we're family, together, all of us" Clark said, before starting to ramble on: "even Bruce, whether he chooses to actually acknowledge this or not is another matter but it's the principle."

"Right. While I do thank you for you attempts to comfort me, there's not much you can do" Diana began to state, before Queen interrupted: "but there is something, otherwise you would of said f'off already."

"Ugh, well… I guess" Diana responded, slightly scratching her head. She uncontrollably let out a hint, and it was instantly spotted by the archer in green spandex.

"Well?" A bunch said simultaneously. It was apparent that they all wanted to help.

"I don't exactly have to inform you all of the problem. You all are intelligent people, with an exception of course" Diana begun, looking at Flash at the end of the statement, which caused a "heyyy" response.

As Diana attempted to further the conversation, audio from the TV in her room caused silence to the League: "breaking news. The dangerous criminal, who's named "Bane", has recently escaped Arkham Asylum. Details of his escape are being looked Into, but it is suggested that his suit and the enhancing drug he uses, known as Venom, was somehow slipped into his holding cell. He and a few other criminals got out. While no deaths occurred, serious injuries to several guards occurred. Please be careful while travelling around Gotham, and call the GCPD if you have any suspicions or worries."

With a few sighs, Martian butted in: "well that's Batman occupied for awhile". The group looked at him, with mild concern. "Should we help? This is the man who once broke him after all" Hal stated, knowing the risk Bane provides. In many respects, Bane and Bruce are equals.

"I fear he wouldn't want help, even if he was lying down in a puddle of his own blood." Martian honestly replied. "Let's return to posts, the last thing we need is a pissed off Batman during this time" Diana said, holding her head higher now. "When isn't the guy pissed off?" Canary said under her breath, again causing many heads to look at her. "What?" She asked once more. "Fine, I was wrong for speaking the truth. Let's get back to work" she said.

The League done just that.

XXXXXXXX

Bruce was working hard in his computer. He had to find where Bane was hiding and sort him out quickly. The longer time Bane had, the worse it looked for Bruce.

Bruce had hacked into many cameras around Gotham, in an attempt to spot anything that could aid. Before he searched any further, he had alarms tripped in his own place. He turned his attention to the alarm set off, looking at a camera that focuses on that area. After seeing who was now waiting at the front door, Bruce immediately swung away from his chair.

"ALFRED! ALFRED! GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR. ALFRED!" He shouted, running up the secret staircase to get into his home. By the time he got up, he saw Alfred place his hand on the handle. "GET AWAY NOW" Bruce shouted. Alfred Looked back in fear, immediately following what he asked of. Alfred quickly, yet silently crawled from the door. Within seconds later, the door was flung across the room. The man who walked through glowed toxic green.

"Good afternoon Batman" he humbly said, walking further into the house.

"Bane…" Bruce spat out. Alfred immediately got on his feet and ran into the Bat cave.

"Your friends won't save you from me breaking your spine once more. This time however, I will follow it up with the decimation of your skull" Bane said, clicking buttons on the wires that circled around his body, causing venom to flow at a faster rate through his body. The result of this was further vascularity.

Without any hesitation, Batman immediately through a Smoke grenade and batarang at Bane. The batarang missed the tubing, but the smoke grenade landed by his feet, causing a quick flurry of smoke to surround Bane. It limited his sight to almost nothing. But the area he was standing in was not populated, with only a large set of stairs nearby, as well as a kitchen desk.

Batman started running towards Bane, in an attempt to fight him while 'blind'. He was quickly circling Bane, sending a flurry of attacks his away. Bane just stood there, almost looking like the jabs that could break thugs ribs, had no effect on him. Bane adapted to Batman's initial strategy, and through a punch of his own. His fist was large and hit Batman's chest armour, immediately sending him flying into said desk.

Batman was half way in the desk, when a charging Bane came charging and jumped at him, a superman punch planned. It hit Batman, and sent him fully through the desk, and create a slight cradle in the floor, where Batman landed.

Bane now stood over Batman, but the fight wasn't over. Bruce immediately kicked the back of one of Bane's legs, causing him to get to one knee. Bane was then hit with a massive force, from the impact of both of Batman's legs hitting him on the chin. The force sent him back enough to give Batman room to quickly get up.

The daze from the kick wore off quickly, and within seconds Bane was back to offence. Bane through some punches of his own, each manually dodged by Batman. Parrying or blocking hits from this tank of a human wasn't an option. Noticing the close proximity of the two, Batman gained temporary separation by a far barrel role. Batman now stood near the stairs.

By the time Batman could turn around, he was met by a massive spear from Bane, sending him through some of the stair handles. As batman attempted to get back up, Bane grabbed his cape, pulled it towards him, grabbed Batman by the throat, and quickly choke slammed him into the angled stair. The slam caused an immediate concussion. Bane placed a foot on Batman's chest, and started an onslaught of heavy strikes to Batman. Within three hits, half the mask had broken off, and blood had splattered far away from Bruce. After the third hit, Batman immediately went into his utility belt, picked out a taser, and zapped Bane before the fourth hit could connect.

While Bane felt the effects of the electricity running through his body, he fought through the pain and spasms, stomping his place foot heavily onto Batman's chest, causing Batman to go into the stairs, meaning the taser no longer has contact on Bane's skin. The hit immediately broke a dozen ribs, one of them puncturing a lung.

As Batman attempted to repeat his actions through the pain, Bane caught Batman's wrist, disarming the taser in the process. He then placed his other arm behind Batman's elbow, and pushed the wrist backwards, causing his arm to immediately snap. Batman yelled in pain.

Bane then grabbed hold of Batman by the throat, and lifted him in the air with one arm. "Fortune favours a prepared mind" Bane said: "and you was most certainly not prepared". Shorted afterwards, he started to immediately choke slam Batman into the stairs, sending him further and further into the staircase with each slam.

Batman was near completely unconscious. The repeated slamming of his head on the stairs caused major concussions, and the tight grab of the throat made it extremely hard to breath. He was essentially rag doll, completely at the handlers mercy.

Bane slammed him once more, completely breaking the mask Batman once had. His back armour now extremely weak and fragile. Bane replaced his foot on Batman, but this time moved his head and broken nose to the side, putting his foot on the temple.

"I have already found pleasure in breaking your back. The skull will do." And with that, Bane started putted pressure onto Batman's skull. When suddenly, a shotgun was sent off, sending Bane stumbling back. It didn't full pierce the skin, but stunned Bane. "GET AWAY FROM MY SON" Alfred shouted, repeatedly pumping and shooting the shotgun. After five shots, he needed to reload. The shots caused bleeding over the body, but didn't causing severe damage to Bane.

Bane limped towards Alfred. Bane casted a shadow that completely covered Alfred. He was over a foot taller, and weighed near quadruple the old man did. Alfred gulped as he realised the intimidating poster infringed him.

As Bane went to swing a hook, that would of easily killed the man, it was caught by none other than Superman: "enough!" He said, throwing Bane through the windows near the door frame, sending him outside, sliding and bouncing on stones. As Bane attempted to get up, he was greeted with Superman's superman punch, causing a ripple through the air, and Bane to be launched into the floor. The stones that once surrounded him now scattered all over the place from the blow.

"Do…what you want with me, Superman. I've *cough* already wonnn…" he said, before being kicked in the ribs, sending him across the floor and into the guarding walls over eighty foot away. The hit of the wall broke the tubing on Bane, and knocked him out, drastically decreasing his size in the process.

Superman instantly turned and looked through the gaping hole in the door frame, to see a near dead Batman. He quickly flies and lifts him up in his arms. "Thank you for calling Alfred, he owes you his life" Superman said, before quickly being teleported to the Watchtower.

"Let's hope he still has one to offer" Alfred said quietly, a single teardrop hitting the area his broken son rested moments ago.

XXXXXXX

Superman walked though the Watchtower corridors, walking past almost all other members. Each initially smiled at his arrival, before seeing the man who laid in his arms. As Superman walked closer to the medical centre, a crowd of members followed. All of them had their heads dropped, hoping for the best, but thinking the worst.

"Martian I need help immediately!" Kal said, holding his best friend in his arms. The Marian turned, to find a near dead Bruce. His armour was falling off with each footstep Kal took, symbolising further that Batman was again broken. What was now resting on a medical bed wasn't Batman's life, it was Bruce's. Superman stood back as J'ohn started giving all his attention to Bruce.

Superman slowly walked backwards, not letting his eyes to drift off Bruce. His snapped arm dangling off the bed caused Kal to think he should have been quicker. He eventually left the room, to walk into the viewing room, where the rest stood. Looking away from the viewing panel, they all looked at Kal, there faces filled with worry. Kal simply walked further in, to watch other his best friend – his brother even.

A few moments later, a curious Diana walked in. "What's going o…" she said as she looked through the panel, her voice quickly drifting into nothing. "…Bruce…" she said faintly under her breath. Her eyes showing her something so foul, she refused to believe it. Her eyelids started to flutter in disbelief and sadness. She placed her hand on the one sided panel, wondering how and why. She slowly turned to face Kal.

"Bane" he said quietly to her. Both their attentions went back to the man they both loved in some way. _"Stay strong Diana"_ J'ohn said to her telepathically while working. Somehow it didn't change what she felt, which was far from optimism.

Kal blamed himself for not being there quick enough. Diana however blamed herself for shifting his priorities. If he stayed focused on Gotham, and not love, he could of fought off Bane.

" _Don't think such thoughts. Bane arrived at Bruce's house, he wasn't ready regardless. Bruce fought anyway to prolong, not defeat"_ J'ohn said to Diana, again telepathically.

Not one of them said a word for another half an hour. They only spoke because an alert went off, causing most of them to leave to fight on Earth – leaving just Diana, Superman and Zatanna in the viewing room.

"You think he'll be ok Kal?" Diana asked softly. Unable to raise her voice to any capacity, it felt like a knife had pieced her. "I…I…I don't know Diana." He replied, sharply ending the sentence, not wanting to consider the worst. "Bruce always bounces back" Zatanna said, trying to stay strong. "Excuse me, I have someone I have to go get" Kal said, before excusing himself for a short while. The two woman remained.

"He will live Diana, I promise you." Zatanna said, placing a hand her her arm. "I hope so. But it may not be a life he wants to have." She replied. "What do you mean?" Zatanna asked, confused. "He can't look after Gotham in a wheelchair…" she said, immediately taking back what she said. Zatanna just looked at Diana in acknowledgment of that possibility. The dozen or so slams on the stairs must of caused further serious damage to the spine.

Diana put her hands together, praying to her Gods in Ancient Greek. "You know we can't use magic on him" Zatanna said, trying to inform Diana. "It isn't magic" Diana replies, separating her hands.

The night was badly beaten, and indeed very young.


End file.
